Interprovincial hurling final to be held in Abu Dhabi

THE ALMOST terminal decline of the interprovincial competitions may be at least temporarily stalled with the decision to stage this year’s hurling final in Abu Dhabi, the capital and second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after Dubai.

It is perhaps the most unlikely of venues for a hurling final, and although the fixture has yet to be confirmed by the GAA’s Central Competitions Committee, there has been informal agreement by the four provincial councils to accept the invitation of Etihad Airways, who last year became one of the three headline sponsors of the hurling championship, along with Guinness and RTÉ Sport.

Etihad have been pushing to stage a high-profile hurling game in Abu Dhabi since coming on board as one of the hurling sponsors, originally hoping they might even get a championship match. When the GAA ruled that out, they then offered to stage the Fitzgibbon Cup finals, only for that to be also deemed impractical.

However, with the interprovincial football and hurling competitions established as something of a moveable feast, having been staged in recent years in places like Boston, Paris and Rome, the GAA were more open to the offer, even if it will mean bringing the competitions forward to March.

The date of the hurling final has yet to be finalised, and agreement has also to be reached with Abu Dhabi tourism, although it is likely to be on or around St Patrick’s Day, March 17th, which means the two semi-finals will take place sometime in early March. The traditional date for the competition has been late October, although this had become increasingly problematic due to clashes with the club championship.

Last October, the interprovincial competition also clashed with the International Rules Series with Australia, prompting further player unavailability. Although the competition remains popular with the players and managers that do make themselves available, the GAA last year appeared to be running out of enthusiasm, particularly when GAA president Nickey Brennan announced the competitions “may be gone past their sell-by date”.

It didn’t help when such out-of-the-way places as Fermoy and Kiltoom staged the semi-finals, and the finals in Portlaoise were among the poorest ever attended. Given this background, the four provincial chairmen who were consulted on the matter were understandably eager to give it some sort of fresh makeover.

Since 2001 the interprovincial competitions have also had the faithful backing of Martin Donnelly. When, in December, the GAA agreed to retain the competition for at least another year, Donnelly challenged the authorities to investigate all possible methods of making them attractive to the public again. Among the possibilities suggested by the successful Clare businessman was to allow a club to host the competition, and attempt to generate an interest locally surrounding it.

While Abu Dhabi may not be the most practical of venues it may perhaps increase player interest. A separate proposal to stage the football final in London on St Patrick’s Day has been dropped, however, due to a clash with the National Football League that same weekend, and also the fact St Patrick’s Day falls on a Tuesday, which is not a holiday in Britain. The Central Competitions Committee is still exploring other more novel venues for the football final.