A kite first flown by Galway PRO Jarlath Cloonan last week. Now, Liam Mellows club in Galway city are proposing that the county bid farewell to Leinster and apply to join the Munster championship from 2018 onwards.
Crucially, the motion proposes that the county's underage and intermediate teams enter the province. They would also request full home and away arrangements.
The motion specifies.
Official Guide 2016 be amended to allow access to all inter-county hurling teams from Galway - minor, u-21, junior, intermediate and senior to participate fully in relevant Tier 1 competitions in a single provincial system.
Could Galway hurling be moving to Munster? A motion for consideration at the upcoming @Galway_GAA County Convention. #gaillimhabúpic.twitter.com/OiSE585fzc
— Tribesmen GAA (@TribesmenGAA) November 16, 2016
This is a different strategy to the one pursued in 2009. County chairman Noel Treacy, speaking to Balls.ie, admitted that Galway had entered Leinster "blindly" and had only gone in with their senior team.
They entered Leinster largely at the behest of the central authorities who were pushing the measure. There were reservations at county board level and open hostility within Leinster but GAA President Nicky Brennan was a big advocate. The Galway players were also tired of beginning their championship programme in mid-July and backed the proposal.
They didn't seek the admission of the underage teams straight away nor did they request a home-and-away arrangement. They might have imagined that these things would come in time but the Leinster counties have not given an inch.
It was confirmed recently that there will be no change for the 2017 season.
Leinster council chairman and GAA Presidential candidate John Horan suggested that Leinster counties would be willing to play in Galway if Duggan Park in Ballinasloe was redeveloped but teams didn't want to travel to Salthill for a game. Many pointed out that Leinster championship games have already been played in far flung places like Tralee and Ballycastle.
There is serious discontent in Galway that no headway has been made in these matters. We are getting close to breaking point.
For Galway, it would be a return to Munster hurling rather than a new beginning. Galway competed in the Munster championship back in the 1960s, a decade before the county's hurling renaissance. They won one match in the province, against Clare in 1961.
The sight of a properly equipped Galway side entering the Munster championship would create a very exciting province down south.
It would, however, lead to a rather lop-sided championship, with a highly exciting and competitive Munster competition running in tandem with a very sleepy Leinster championship. Every indicator suggests that the Leinster hurling championship would become as much a coronation as its football counterpart. At least in the short term, and very possibly in the medium and long terms as well.
It remains to be seen how Munster counties will receive the proposal from Liam Mellows. The county convention is scheduled for 12 December.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner today, Paraic Duffy implied that the issue would have to be dealt with at national level.
Clearly, Galway have to play in a province and my own view is I think the Leinster model works very well. There are well-known issues between Leinster and Galway and I think in the first instance we need to look at how to resolve those...
Nobody has a closed mind on it, you have to look at what’s best for hurling, there are limited number of very competitive counties, we’re in an awkward position and we need to find a way of addressing it.
Rather than having a debate between Galway and Leinster or Galway and Munster, maybe the onus is on Croke Park to look at this on a national level.
Croke Park's prodding was instrumental in moving Galway into Leinster in the first place. Duffy's comments imply that the most likely scenario here is Galway staying in Leinster with Croke Park insisting on home matches and the admission of underage teams.
