Galway hurling chiefs are adamant that the Leinster Council's decision to exclude them from the Leinster championship at minor and U-21 level is not the final word on the matter.
It wasn't a good night for enlightened progressives in Leinster last night, In addition to insisting that Dublin will continue to play all their championship games at Croke Park, they decided to exclude Galway from the province at underage level.
Galway hurling committee chairman Joe Byrne described the decision taken by the Leinster Council as 'selfish', when speaking to Ollie Turner on Galway Bay FM today.
Byrne said the status quo, in which Galway walk straight into an All-Ireland quarter final at minor and an All-Ireland semi-final in the U-21 (a la the 1980s), 'irrespective of what quality a team we have, is not in the interests of Galway hurling.'
He said last night's decision indicated that the only reason Galway are allowed into Leinster at senior level is because of the financial benefits they bring.
Byrne suggested that maybe 'pressure needs to come from on high needs to come on Leinster and maybe not give the selfish decision they gave last night.'
One counter-argument has emerged, centring on the point that there is back door at U21 level (and there may not be enough space in the calendar to accommodate one) and therefore they need Galway to fill one of the semi-final places.
[Galway Bay FM]
