Galway are off to Leinster and with the draw for the 2009 Championship taking place this Wednesday we’ll soon know who is first up.
Saturday morning’s GAA Special Congress at Croke Park saw 80 per cent vote in favour of Galway and Antrim entering the province.
It was good news for GAA boss Nickey Brennan who said after the vote, “This has been in the back of my mind for a long number of years, ever since I raised it in Leinster, and I’m particularly pleased that at long last we have a structure that’ good for Antrim and Galway. I believe it’ll prove to be a good decision, but I’ll be a hurler on the ditch when the issue comes back on the agenda at 2011 Congress.”
The addition of Galway will provide an interesting dimension to the championship, and offer the maroons the further high profile matches which they desire.
This year Galway annihilated Antrim and Laois in the qualifiers, but were eventually outfoxed by Cork.
Though Wexford, Dublin, and Offaly had openly questioned Galway’s possible participation the HDC innovation was backed by a significant margin.
This new format will be afforded a three year trial period, and the Galway hurlers who backed the switch will feel that they have an opportunity to vie for honours.
At last week’s County Hurling Board meeting only secretary John Fahey and the players’ representative David Collins spoke in favour of the change, with many of the top table expressing reservations, but crucially club delegates backed the proposals. The draw for the 2009 championship takes place on Wednesday evening and all Galwegian eyes will now be focused on how this development unfolds.
Kilkenny, who won a third All-Ireland on the spin after hammering Waterford in last month’s decider, have been the masters in the province, winning the last 10 out of 11, and GAA officials craved a more competitive environment in Leinster.
The Galway GAA board have narrowly voted to support a proposal that would see the county's hurling team joining the Leinster senior championship.
The players had already given their full backing to the plan and last week at a specially convened meeting of the county board the motion to support the move was narrowly passed by 66 votes to 54.
