Sharp Eye wrote:
I think that the Leinster Council made it clear last year that they have no objection to any county entering a "home & away" arrangement with Galway but that they will not force any county to enter such an agreement. Leinster Council want Galway to remain in Leinster for competition & revenue reasons, so they will not prevent any "home & away" agreements.
Offaly Co Board who have gained valued income from Galway's games in Tullamore have missed an opportunity to increase this income and give Offaly hurling supporters an attractive home championship game. Why was such a huge cost incurred in the re development of O'Connor Park if the Co Board refuse to host "Home Games" there.
Genuine question - I saw something in the Irish Independent hinting at this from Leinster Council all right, though it didn't say it explicitly, but I couldn't get confirmation of it. At the time it was reported, the Offaly county board certainly hadn't received any correspondence. I suppose it's too much to ask that you have a reliable source for this decree from Leinster? Sadly the Indo ceased to be a reliable source several years ago, and certainly not in matters relating to Galway, where Martin Breheny is incredibly biased and one-eyed.
I know that when Galway went into Leinster first, they made extortionate demands, looking for far in excess of what the actual Leinster counties get from the pot, so they got a lot of people's backs up. I've no doubt that the demands are far more reasonable now, but Galway may have burned a few bridges - but that's just speculation on my part, with regard to the current situation I mean.
Also, let's just assume for a moment that the option is there for the Offaly county board to enter into a home and away arrangement. Now just to be clear, I have no evidence for any of this - I am speculating. If Offaly and Galway refuse to go into an arrangement, then it's reasonable to assume that all games between the two counties will be in Portlaoise, barring it's a Leinster final. And if Laois and Galway don't agree either, then all games between those two teams get played in Tullamore. Let's say that in a five year spell, Galway play Laois twice and Offaly twice. If Offaly and Laois hold firm, then O'Connor Park and O'Moore Park get two games each, all four games are played in venues where the Leinster counties would have a slight familiarity advantage, and all four games are played within an hour's drive of 95% of the county's supporters. If both counties enter into agreements, OCP and OMP get one game each while Salthill gets two, there is no familiarity advantage over the course of the two games and away trips for supporters of both counties become a complete nightmare. (Many readers of this site will never have been to Pearse Stadium on a championship Sunday - travelling to and from is a complete nightmare, nothing like a league game in the Spring.)
It would be entirely logical for Offaly and Laois to work together on this. As I said, I've no evidence that they are, but it is possible. Certainly I'd rather go to Portlaoise twice than go to O'Connor Park once and Salthill once - and I live in Roscommon now. If I lived in Kinnitty or Shinrone, the decision would be easier still.
Kevin Egan. Signed out of respect for players and all involved with Offaly.