Galway’s Burke has to miss National Hurling League semi-final

Galway have lost Niall Burke ahead of Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Kilkenny, the forward requiring minor surgery for a calf muscle injury, and necessitating at least another week of recovery.

Burke – who scored two crucial points in the final round win over Waterford – might make it back in time for the league final on May 5th, should Galway progress, but the news is less positive for fellow forward Niall Healy, who will be sidelined for several more months with a torn bicep.

There was mixed news for Tyrone manager Mickey Harte ahead of the Allianz NFL showdown against Dublin on Sunday week, as his nephew Peter Harte will miss that game due to the hamstring injury sustained in Sunday’s semi-final win over Kildare – but rather than any tearing, the hamstring is merely strained, which should allow Harte to return to full fitness ahead of that Ulster championship clash with Donegal on May 26th.

Dublin full back Rory O'Carroll has also ruled himself out of the league final, as he continues to recover from minor ankle surgery: "It will probably be another two to three weeks before I get back playing," said O'Carroll, which should nonetheless get him back in plenty of time for Dublin's championship opener against either Carlow or Westmeath on June 1st.

Cúl Camps
O'Carroll was speaking in Croke Park at the launch of the 2013 Kellogg's GAA Cúl Camps, set for this July and August. A survey commissioned by Kellogg's to mark the event has put Gaelic games at the top of a poll as the most popular sports played by Irish children, with 77 per cent per cent playing either football (44%) or hurling/camogie (33%).

The popularity of Gaelic games among Irish parents was also confirmed as 42 per cent of those surveyed plan to send their children to a Cúl Camp this year. Over 82,000 children took part in the camps last year, a six per cent increase on 2011.

Over one thousand camps will take place in communities all over Ireland during July and August, with 2,100 voluntary coaches giving over 30,000 hours of coaching to young children.

The camps are structured so a different aspect of the game is worked on each day and children put into practice what they have learned.