Leitrim hurling boss Olcan Conway rails against proposed league exile

Leitrim hurling manager Olcan Conway has warned the game will disappear from the county forever unless it receives greater help and financial support.

There has been some kickback to the GAA's proposal that - from 2025 onwards - any county with fewer than five adult hurling teams will be excluded from the Allianz League and consigned to the fifth-tier Lory Meagher Cup only.

If Central Council passes the recommendation, it would see Leitrim join Fermanagh, Cavan, Longford and Louth in league exile, with their inter-county seasons reduced from six to three months.

On Monday, Fermanagh GAA held a special meeting of the county committee to discuss the proposals from the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) on hurling development in weaker counties. The meeting was unanimous in calling for those proposals to be rejected. They've urged all counties to them in voting against the proposal at the Ard Chomhairle meeting on 2 December.

Louth GAA held a meeting on the same night to discuss the issue and said that "all in attendance were united in calling for the proposals to be rejected and urge all counties to support us".

Now Conway has aired his deep frustration at the situation, pleading for more help to safeguard the future of Leitrim hurling.

In a social media post, he wrote: "The GAA's motto is 'where we all belong'; it hasn’t felt like we all belong in the past couple of weeks if you’re a Leitrim hurler. We can be cut loose; cut adrift. We’re expendable. I’ve held my counsel for long enough.

"This is the third attempt to get rid of the Leitrim hurling team or remove us from the league in a year.

"This is just a cost cutting exercise dressed up as something else. There is no plan in place, no estimate on figures, no concrete