Age-old tug-of-war between intercounty and university teams hasn’t gone away

Benny Hurl sighs at the question, which he says arises like clockwork every year. “Groundhog week where some manager comes out and says, my player got injured and why don’t you play this before Christmas? This debate has been going on for a long, long time. Semesterisation and exams before Christmas – that’s one reason why it wouldn’t work.” Prominent last year as the lead on the GAA National Demographics Committee, which reported last December, Hurl is also chair of the Higher Education Authority. It supervises, among other competitions, the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups – the oldest non-intercounty trophies in Gaelic games. There are tensions every year, as young...