New York Pull Out Of Ulster Hurling Championship

By Denis O'Brien

New York GAA board has taken the drastic measure of pulling out of the upcoming Guinness Ulster Hurling Championship citing a downturn in player numbers and competitiveness as the reason behind the decision.

New York GAA chairman, Seamus Dooley confirmed that a letter from the New York board was sent to the Ulster Council last week letting them know about the decision to pull out.

Mr. Dooley said player retirements and others returning home were the main elements behind the board's decision "we lost 11 players from last year," he explained.

"Two of the players have retired and nine others have gone home, so we decided to pull out because we would not have been competitive in the Ulster championship and it wouldn't be fair to any team traveling out as we just wouldn't be up to the required standard," said the New York head.

"It was a tough decision to make but it was the only decision we could have made, however, we hope to regroup for next year."

Dooley went on to highlight some of the recent difficulties New York clubs have had in relation to migration back to Ireland, "four years ago we had 8 hurling clubs, now we have only four," the chairman stated.

The decision to pull out only applies to hurling and the Ulster Championship while the football team will play Sligo on May 13th as scheduled in the Connacht Championship.

In light of this latest turn of events, Ulster Council official, Stephen Donnelly revealed the withdrawal wasn't conformed at the time but said that there would be a meeting next week to discuss the issue, "to see what the state of play was in relation to New York" and how best to proceed.

New York, beaten by Antrim last year in the Ulster final in Boston, were set to play Down in New York on May 20th in the first semi-final, while on the same day the winners of Antrim or London were set to play Derry or Armagh in the second semi-final at Casement Park.

In the wake of this latest news, it is not now clear how the schedule will unfold. This latest news comes in the wake of last year's bitter row between Antrim and New York over the fixture of the Ulster Hurling Final which was originally set for June.

New York were due to play in Casement Park back then but would not travel citing work visa problems for players. Then Antrim after being offered an expenses paid trip out to the Big Apple to complete a new date, in turn refused to travel. Eventually, the long impasse was resolved and the final was then played on the 22nd October in Boston with Antrim prevailing.