Counties are indifferent to hurling – John Martin

Mattie Lennon's resignation from the Monaghan job highlighted the problem of indifference towards the game in some counties

LIAM O’Neill says he wants his term in the office as Uachtarán CLG to be marked by the revival of hurling in areas where it is hanging by a thread.

If he didn’t know it already, the past couple of weeks will have reminded the President-elect just how much work he has to do in some areas of the country. Longford’s failure to field in their National League Division 3B match against Fermanagh highlighted just how thin that thread is in some counties.

A week later in Monaghan, manager Mattie Lennon resigned because of the county board refused to reschedule a number of intermediate club football games which were due to take place four days before a National League final.

That sort of scheduling will be no surprise to hurling people in many counties around the country. At the time of writing, the ball is firmly in the Monaghan county board’s court in terms of brokering a resolution.

The players have released a statement backing Mattie Lennon to the hilt and have also highlighted the fact that club football games are scheduled the day before Nicky Rackard Cup games this summer.

The Longford situation on the outside seems less contentious if no less unfortunate. It is particularly infuriating for the small band of hurling people in the county because they won the Lory Meagher Cup in 2010.

That win at Croke Park against Donegal was the last throw of the dice for an ageing squad that had been together since the late 1990s.

The full story is in the current issue of Gaelic Life, published Thursday April 12. Buy your copy now in your local newsagent, or online by clicking the subscribe button on this page