McGarry: Fermanagh won't have a team in a decade

April 12, 2016

Fermanagh's Declan McGarry.

Fermanagh hurling captain Declan McGarry says it's unlikely the Ernemen will be able to field a team in ten years.

Lisbellaw is the only club in the county and McGarry points out that the current league structures do little to help Fermanagh's cause. Even though they won Division 3B, they have not been promoted to Division 3A:

"It's a poor format and poor planning by the GAA," McGarry told The Belfast Telegraph. "There is a real lack of thought put into it. I don't think they particularly care and to be honest they will not be held to account.

"I mean, to have a four-team league in the first place… They say they want weaker teams to have more games to improve them. But instead you have three games and then even if you win it, you can't go up.

"You would expect county boards to lobby on their behalf and make the right changes. But there is no real intent or will to change anything. Nobody is going to be held to account because there is such a small playing base that there are hardly any repercussions if the wrong decisions are reached.

"It's just left in the ether. When the GAA throw a proposal out into the open, there is nobody that is going to challenge it.

"I don't think hurling is going to exist in the next 10 years in Fermanagh. You have young fellas at underage level now who are being expected to do two or three-hour round trips during the week to play away matches.

"As an alternative, you could play football and there will be a team two or three miles down the road they will play against. Parents will not let their children go away to play all evening if they have school in the morning. Unless there are clubs set up in the county and under-age teams put together, it cannot continue. And without the clubs, the county team would obviously not exist."


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