Hurling finals weekend should be sacred says Ronan McSherry

It was painful standing on the line as our ladies team demolished Urney to win the Junior football championship on the first Sunday in
September two years ago.

Of course it was wonderful that our girls were bringing the trophy to Coalisland, however at the same time in headquarters Kilkenny and  Tipperary were playing out one of the most sensational All Ireland hurling finals ever. What a conflict missing my first hurling final in years but the right thing to do is always the right thing to do.

The fixtures in the provincial press that week revealed ours was the only game at the same time as the Cats and the warriors from the Premier county. Sensibly this year’s ladies final has been fixed for the second Sunday in September.

The magnificent All Ireland hurling final is fixed for September 4.

Not to be outdone by the women however the men’s CCC in Tyrone has fixed, not one, but four senior football championship matches for that very day.

As Richie Hogan, TJ, Bubbles and Seamus Callanan thrill 80,000 plus fans in Croke Park and millions on TV screens across the world, GAA
club players, mentors and members have been deprived the opportunity to be part of this wonderful occasion.

Fellow GAA players including All Star Mattie Donnelly, his brother Richard and the Brennan brothers who won Ulster medals with Tyrone
will be lining out for Trillick while the hurling final is being played.

While they won’t say it out loud, there are a few from those clubs will be making their way across the Boyne on their traditional route to Jones Road. Those who don’t make the journey should at least be afforded the opportunity to watch it courtesy of RTE. It is the greatest day in the GAA calendar, bar none.

It is a ridiculous decision by the CCC and an insult to hurling and those trying to promote the game. What is harder to digest is the Chairman of the CCC in Tyrone comes from a hurling club. Games were scheduled in some counties to accommodate viewing of the Republic of Ireland during the Euros. Hurling it seems, has taken over the mantle of a foreign game to some of those tasked with running the GAA around these parts. We have also seen games moved to accommodate pop concerts and American football games.

The All Ireland semi-finals between Kilkenny and Waterford (including the draw) and Tipp-Galway were sensational. It is unlikely there were any field games played anywhere in the world matched them for skill, drama and honesty over the last two weeks and that includes the
Olympics and the Premiership. Austin Gleeson is as fine a sportsman as any in this country while role models such as Maurice Shanahan
remained on the field after the final whistle to sign autographs for children despite the heartache of defeat.

It is not like the games could not have been fixed at another time as you can be sure if Tyrone were still in the hunt for the Sam Maguire
cup, clubs would not have seen championship action until the leaves were falling from the trees.

The decks are cleared when the Super Bowl and the AFL Cup finals are celebrated with beer and barbecues across the US and Australia. Does not the All Ireland hurling final deserve the same respect? Obviously not.

In 1996 Wexford under the tutelage of Liam Griffin beat Limerick to win their first All Ireland hurling title since 1968. It was another
magnificent day in Croke Park.

Griffin famously brought his charges to the border of the county before the Leinster final and gave an awesome oration which is now part of hurling folklore. He is a man worth listening to.

Perhaps the Tyrone CCC will consider this truth from the St Mary’s legend, “It’s part of our culture. It’s part of who we are as people.

I think it’s a tragedy so many Irish people don’t know anything about hurling.”

John Hughes is away