Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the context of sport, perhaps our most unique sport is the game of hurling. There has been a fair bit of controversy in recent weeks in respect of the proposals relating to the counties where clubs do not have hurling teams.

Does the Minister of State have concerns about the proposal that exists? If we are going to promote the game in those counties, the game generally needs to be promoted. There is a lot of concern again this year about the proposition by GAAGO regarding many of the most prominent hurling games at the start of the year. There is a fear among people who support hurling. My own county of Cork is particularly affected but generally among hurling people, there is a fear that GAAGO is being promoted off the back of some of the very competitive hurling matches at the start of the interprovincial championships. They fear that the balance is not quite right between the two sports and that many people who would have given many years of service to the GAA might not have the technology or the income to get GAAGO and will miss out on major matches that they might previously have been in a position to see.

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