Semi-Final Line-Up
Cork V Clare
Limerick V Waterford
On the weekend when GAA President Joe McDonagh surfed the wave of change at Annual Congress, it was business as usual in the hurling world as four Munster counties staked their claims for the semi-finals and what may well be a double bill in Thurles on May 3rd.
McDonagh electrified Congress at the Burlington Hotel Dublin by first of all attempting to delete Rule 21, banning members of the northern security forces from the association, in one fell swoop on Saturday afternoon but after negotiating a tricky Central Council meeting at which some northern counties threatened a walkout if forced to vote on something for which they had no mandate, he settled for fixing the date for a special congress on May 30th to consider deletion of the ban.
Whereas the fate of the motion is now probably at the mercy of broader forces with the north-south referendums being held on May 22nd, there was a feeling amongst delegates that the motion to remove the rule would probably pass - particularly with the Taoiseach's announcement at Saturday's banquet that a high-level effort was being made to sort out the occupation of Crossmaglen Rangers' grounds by the British Army.
The rest of the Congress was fairly low-key with most interest being focused on the new workshop structures on Friday afternoon which stimulated far greater participation in discussions than previously and, when judged against the stagnant debating of motions with the proliferation of withdrawals and out-of-order rulings, must surely be the way forward for Congress.
On the playing field, there was drama in Division One A of the NHL with 15,000 people at Ennis watching the ebb and flow of Clare's clash with Galway. The visitors needed a four-point win to overtake Clare in the race for the semi-finals but they narrowly failed, winning by two, 2-15 to 0-19.
The All-Ireland champions will now play last year's Munster semi-final opponents, Cork who completed an unbeaten campaign by defeating Laois in Fermoy and finishing top of Division One B.
Division One A winners were League holders Limerick whose victory over Antrim at the Gaelic Grounds left them as the only first division team to have won all their matches. They will now face Waterford who took all the intrigue out of the race for second place in One B by comfortably beating neighbours Kilkenny and maintaining their place behind Cork.
"It goes to show how competitive the Munster championship is going to be," said Clare's Jamesie O'Connor. He's right. Clare, Limerick and Cork are all on the one poisonous side of the championship draw in the province.
If Cork beat Clare and Limerick defeat Waterford, the two winners will be faced with a dry run for their championship first round, due only a fortnight after the League final is scheduled.
