"Irishmen and Irishwomen: In the name of God and the dead generations from which she receives her old traditions of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom"......unless of course you play hurling in which case we'll sort you out when everyone else gets looked after first!
Not quite what Pearse planned I'm sure, but indicative of the poor relation mentality attributed to the hurling fraternity in Fermanagh . For many years club and county hurlers stood back and watched football colleagues have first choice at training times on pitches (even having to re-fix hurling matches), first choice of dual players, endless coverage in local newspapers (don't get me started on this one!!), and new gear while we wore the footballers cast-offs. I remember our county hurlers at a game in Carrickmore in recent times and seeing Tyrone all decked out in brand new tracksuits, with full kits for everyone including backroom staff, while our lads had an assortment of shorts and mongrel tracksuits you wouldn't see in the bargain basket in O'Neills factory shop! Tyrone had two full cases of new sliotars, while the Fermanagh players had half a dozen hard fought from the county board. These cozy memories lead me to ask several questions of the GAA in Fermanagh as a whole. Firstly, are hurlers as badly treated as we have historically made out; have we bothered our backsides doing anything about it, and who really cares?
Having been involved with hurling for the last twenty seven years, I have seen our traditional game amble through several highs, and quite a few lows. Who of us will ever forget the great clashes of the 1980's with two strong divisions in the county? That unforgettable summer of 1994 when we won our first ever All-Ireland hurling title defeating London in Ruislip in sweltering heat; And many a titanic Championship Hurling final has been fought in Brewster Park as memorable as any football final. Alas, these memories are for the very few who were there and only further fuel the siege mentality of the true hurler. We have asked questions of county boards who failed to build on what was genuinely great success for the GAA in this county. However, what have we truly done to help ourselves? I am as guilty as anyone looking for people to point the finger at when it comes to the demise of hurling in Fermanagh, and indeed there are plenty at which the finger can be pointed, but I firmly believe that people have to stand up to be counted in order to make their case, claim what's theirs and make it happen. The two senior hurling clubs in the county have largely done that and, against the odds, have kept the game alive through their endeavours. When hurling in this county slipped to being a battle solely between two clubs, what efforts were made by those with the power to do so? Why were we left to our own devices? More questions than answers unfortunately.
We saw Lisbellaw take the first initiatives by hurlers helping themselves by going out of the county to get competitive hurling. Lisnaskea Emmetts followed suit and both clubs have been instrumental in keeping the Armagh and Ulster Hurling leagues successful. Both clubs have been instrumental in developing the game in the county at underage and Senior level with minimum support, although in more recent years that has improved. The introduction of hurling officers attached to schools and the county board has put pressure right back onto all clubs, and has been key in the development of at least two underage clubs, Derrylin and the Knocks.
Thankfully, we now have an environment where people are starting to care and hurlers see that we have more responsibility than anyone to keep our game alive and make it grow. The football community must accept that dual players can bring added success to clubs and county, and should be more encouraging in their hurling. Everyone needs to stand up and be counted together. God knows both codes could do with more success to smile about!
