Kieran Shannon: GAA must grasp the nettle to save its hurling hinterlands

They just refused to go away. Last weekend, Slaughtneil and Tooreen, those oases in the hurling wastelands of Derry and Mayo, emerged from the shadows and into the limelight, where they’d push sides hailing from the most fertile ground in all the land — Kilkenny and Cork — right to the wire, before ultimately losing out.

For Tooreen, it was the second time in three years that they had made it to an All-Ireland intermediate semi-final, having surprised a Kinvara — a team that featured Conor Whelan — in the Connacht final.