Cost of going to continent an issue

Interprovincial series Cumann na mBunscoil Finals: GAA president Seán Kelly is looking for a review of the inter-provincial series and a reappraisal of how its fixtures are staged. Kelly's comments come after Sunday's hurling final drew a crowd of only a few hundred to Pearse Stadium in Galway.

This is the second year of the initiative whereby the football and hurling finals alternate their finals in European cities. Last month a crowd no bigger than the weekend's attended the football final in Paris.

Whereas poor crowds are hardly news in the competition, which has declined in popularity over the past three decades, there has also been growing discontent at the expense for the provinces in travelling to the Continent.

Connacht Council secretary John Prenty has been most vocal about this imposition and in the aftermath of the province contesting last year's hurling final in Rome, he questioned the expenditure in his annual report earlier this year.

"The whole Railway Cup campaign cost us €90,000 last year and I'd say between the provinces the total must have run to quarter of a million. Leinster have sent two teams abroad in successive years."

Prenty further makes the point Connacht is the province with the least potential for generating revenue, as its football championship is smaller than the other provinces and there isn't any hurling equivalent. Kelly acknowledges the cost factor and thinks that venues should be varied accordingly.

"There's no doubt about that. Connacht is poorer in terms of financial returns. Maybe we should be going to centres where the GAA is more established. Visiting Rome and Paris has been positive for the association in Europe but because of the financial burden on provinces it would be good to go to centres where reasonably sized crowds could generate some revenue to help with the cost. You would be talking about North America and England because they have the infrastructure and support could be organised."

In the weeks ahead all the issues will be thrashed out by the GAA's Interprovincial Task Force and it is hoped their deliberations will be ready to set before Central Council by next March.

"We need the committee to meet the provinces," says Kelly, "and get together a strategy for the next four years or so. Having experienced the last few years, I think the trips have been a great success in giving something back to the players. Certainly there's been a value to that."

The president also believes the home finals should be looked at more practically and fixed on the same bill as higher-profile club championship matches.

"If the competition is being played at home we should be slow to pick a venue and try to time it so there can be a tie-in with the club championships at this time of the year. The details should be left open to allow GAC (Games Administration Committee) to pick the most suitable date and venue."

Prenty points to the appeal of the club championships and contrasts the situation at the weekend in Ballina, where 3,000 were present for the Connacht club final, and in Salthill where there were "no more than 400 or 500". And that's taking into account that the hurling competition means a lot to Galway in terms of their season's structure.

"The hurling is a bit different here," he says, "because Galway represent Connacht and have so little to play for apart from the league because there's no provincial championship."

The argument has been made that were Croke Park to promote the competitions a bit more enthusiastically, crowds would increase. In support of the contention, the marketing campaigns for the International Rules series are cited. Kelly isn't so sure.

"International Rules is a different case. It's an international event, where Ireland compete against Australia and it has its own following. All the marketing in the world won't get a big crowd to the interprovincials.

"In fairness the weekend's crowd was reasonable and passionate and created a good atmosphere. But expecting massive crowds at this stage is unrealistic."

Prenty is even more sceptical: "Everything has been tried. The hurling final was promoted on the radio and we also contacted the primary schools but still couldn't get a crowd out.

"How could you? There's no interest. In the football this year even though there was a trip to Paris, two thirds of the players weren't available. This was a great competition years ago when you'd nothing on TV and the opportunity to see great players was attractive.

"You couldn't get a crowd to go and see the Munster-Leinster semi-final when it was played before the International Rules at Croke Park despite the fact 60,000 attended the Test. People have lost interest."