Anger in Wexford as All-Ireland quarter-finals fixture request fails – ‘Hurling is being marginalised’

There is widespread anger in Wexford GAA circles after the county’s request to have the All-Ireland Senior hurling quarter-final against Clare moved from next Saturday to Sunday didn’t receive the 60% backing required at a special meeting of Central Council.

The change in schedule was sought because Wexford is hosting the national Féile na nGael Under-15 hurling competition on Saturday, with a total of 93 teams from all over Ireland and three from the USA expected to bring up to 10,000 visitors.

Once the hurlers accounted for Laois in the preliminary quarter-final, what had been a potential problem when Wexford first flagged it to Croke Park last month became a live issue.

GAA President Jarlath Burns convened a meeting of Central Council held on Sunday where the request was voted upon, entailing a swap of fixtures for the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals and the Tailteann Cup football semi-finals, in order to comply with television scheduling arrangements.

It emerged afterwards that, of the 47 eligible to vote, 27 backed the motion and 20 were against, amounting to 57.4% in favour.

However, there was a 60% requirement in order to be passed, meaning that Wexford’s bid for a change came up short by a mere two votes.

Micheál Martin, Wexford GAA Chairman, outlined the extensive efforts made by the County Board to avoid a clash on Monday morning.

“Wexford GAA wrote to the CCC in Croke Park the day after we lost to Kilkenny back in May, highlighting that if we won our preliminary quarter-final we would have significant logistical issues with Féile na nGael on June 22 which was the date identified for All-Ireland quarter-finals,” he said.

“Swapping Féile with the football equivalent on June 29 was something we suggested but was impossible due to teams travelling from overseas.

“The issue of such important hurling games being played on Saturday lunchtime was raised initially by Clare amongst others at the provincial meetings with CCC last week.

“The Uachtarán, Jarlath Burns, called the special meeting based on the concerns issued from hurling counties at Leinster and Munster meetings last week.

“The RTE TV schedule for next weekend meant that the only way our games could be moved to Sunday was a swap with the Tailteann Cup games pencilled in for Sunday,” Martin explained.

“It is unfortunate that the debate became a hurling v. football debate but we believe our request was a reasonable one in that we have a huge number of people who will not even get to see the games on TV due to their voluntary commitment to hosting a national event.

“We are appreciative that the Uachtarán called a special meeting to facilitate our request which is unprecedented.

“There is a wider issue of the current GAA calendar which is doing nothing for the promotion of our games, and hurling in particular is being marginalised.

“From a Wexford perspective, while disappointed that the clash with Féile is occurring, we are delighted to still be in the 2024 championship and we will bring a big crowd to support the team as always.

“In order to further promote the games among our youngest supporters, we are also running an initiative of subsidising the cost of a bus for any club who are bringing their under-age teams to the game,” Martin added.

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