Former Cork hurler and pundit Dónal Óg Cusack has criticised the GAA for its failure to expand hurling across Ireland.
He highlighted that while hurling is popular in counties like Kilkenny, Limerick, and Cork, Gaelic football dominates in areas such as Mayo, Kerry, and Dublin, the GAA has let the smaller counties down.
The GAA has attempted to support counties with less presence in both sports by introducing second-tier competitions like the Joe McDonagh Cup for weaker hurling teams and the Tailteann Cup for less strong football counties.
After previously criticizing the Tailteann Cup as a disappointment for "also-rans," Óg Cusack has now turned his attention to the Joe McDonagh Cup. In anticipation of the All-Ireland Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-finals, where Offaly will face Tipperary and Carlow will play Dublin, Óg Cusack expressed his concerns.
He stated that it is highly likely that Carlow and Offaly will lose, and as a result, they won't participate in inter-county hurling until the following February. He believes that by then, the excitement generated by the Joe McDonagh Cup will have faded.
"It's extremely likely that Carlow and Offaly will lose and neither team will play inter-county hurling again until next February. By then the buzz from the Joe McDonagh will be long gone.
Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"They deserve better, and if we consider in almost 150 years of stewardship, the GAA has failed to expand the hurling map of Ireland even marginally, then hurling deserves better also.
Óg Cusack believes that Carlow and Offaly, as well as hurling itself, deserve better. He criticized the GAA for failing to expand the hurling map of Ireland even slightly during its nearly 150 years of existence. He pointed out that since the end of World War II, only nine counties have won All-Ireland hurling titles, with Offaly being the last new name on the cup in 1981.
He emphasized that the lack of first-time All-Ireland finalists since then is a sign of failure. He also highlighted that there are now only two provincial championships for the national game.
"In fact, before the end of the Second World War, 11 different counties had won All-Ireland hurling titles. Since then, just nine counties have. The last new name on the cup was Offaly themselves, way back in 1981. We haven't had a first-time All-Ireland finalist since then. That's failure.
"We now have just two provincial championships for our national game."
The matches between Offaly and Tipperary, as well as Carlow and Dublin, are scheduled to take place on Saturday.
