Future of Interpros in CCCC hands

GAA President Nickey Brennan is not being drawn on whether or not the future of the Martin Donnelly Interprovincial football and hurling championships rests solely on whether or not the competitions are deemed a success this autumn.

Speaking at the launch of the Interpro championships, Brennan believes that a positive approach must be taken from the public in relation to the games and that everybody must get behind this competition, just as the players do in order to increase its profile.

"We have tried to get the attendance out, we have brought it out of the country for a couple of years and now we are bringing it back to headquarters," Brennan said.

The Kilkenny man feels that ultimately whether or not the competitions go ahead next year is a matter for the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).

"I'm not saying that if there's not a big crowd at the final that that's the end of it - we won't say that because the people who make that decision are the CCCC. They will take the opinion of the provinces, but there seems to be a fairly decent level of interest in it from the players.

"We wouldn't say that this is the last throw of the dice, but we would be anxious that there would be a better level of interest from the public."

Brennan feels that central to the core of the future of the competitions are the players and management - both sets of whom are fully supportive for the continuation of this historic competition.

"There's a reasonable level of interest from players and the team managers have made a big difference in recent years by assembling the best possible squads of players. The finals over the last couple of years have been really competitive."

Both competitions are set to begin in outlying venues in the next fortnight with Fermoy in Cork hosting the Munster-Leinster double header this weekend followed by Ulster and Connacht under floodlights in Ballybofey.

The GAA President is eagerly anticipating the finals, which will see both competitions culminate with floodlit encounters at Croke Park. He believes that this is also an ideal opportunity to showcase the GAA to the increasing number of non-nationals who are coming to these shores.

"We feel that the attraction of the lights at Croke Park will be a big boost to the competition. We're making a big effort to target the non-Irish community.

"There are lots of people from all around the world who have come to live in Ireland and they are starting to get involved in the GAA. This is an opportunity for them to come to Croke Park and see the occasion themselves," he added.

€250,000 has been invested by the GAA and sponsor Martin Donnelly on a yearly basis for the last three years into the competition. The finals will be broadcast live from Croke Park by RTE on Saturday, October 27.