Hurling and the General Election

Letter to the Sports Editor

Last December, the Tipperary GAA Convention passed a motion for the introduction of a proposed new playing rule to go forward to GAA Congress 2025, next February, to be voted on in order to eliminate the blight of ball throwing from the sport of Hurling.

Indeed, the passing of the motion was reported in the Nenagh Guardian by Shane Brophy, the following week.

Now that a general election has been called, a rare opportunity has arisen for all candidates running in North Tipperary/West Kilkenny and South Tipperary constituencies, to publicly show their support for Tipperary GAA, by declaring that, if elected (or re-elected) to the next Dáil, they will openly call on all delegates attending GAA Congress 2025 to support Tipperary GAA's motion and that they will also urge all Dáil deputies to encourage their respective County Boards to support this motion, in the best interests of Hurling.

While canvassing electoral support, inevitably every candidate will highlight issues at both national and local levels that they will support on behalf of their constituents, if elected (or re-elected) to the next Dáil.

Significantly, with Hurling being our National sport the issue of ball throwing is therefore a national issue that resonates strongly with hurling fans throughout Tipperary.

Without doubt, a public declaration of support for Tipperary GAA by all election candidates at this juncture, would be timely and very well received by both constituencies' Hurling electorate.

Yours in Hurling,

Conor O'Donovan, Nenagh Eire Og GAA.