'We have to move on' from hurling decision - Sheridan

Westmeath County Board chairman Sean Sheridan is crestfallen at the failure of an attempt to create a new 14-county, top-tier structure for the National Hurling League.

The 'Super 14’ template for the NHL, brokered by Westmeath and Carlow, was shot down at a meeting of the GAA’s Central Council on Saturday last – and by the narrowest of margins.

Mr Sheridan said that he was “disappointed” to learn that two Leinster counties voted against the proposal, sealing a 19-17 defeat for the motion.

“We’re devastated,” the Tyrrellspass clubman told the Westmeath Examiner. “To say that hurling people in Westmeath are disappointed is an understatement.

"We lost the vote by the narrowest of margins, and that’s even more disappointing, considering the amount of work that was put in by ourselves and Carlow, with these counties promising us that they’d vote for it.”

Instead, Central Council voted to retain the current league format, which will see Westmeath remain in Division 2A.

A proposed 'Super 12’ initiative was also voted down.

“It’s difficult for us, because you need to be playing at a higher standard before facing into the McCarthy Cup,” Mr Sheridan explained.

There was a hopeful air at a meeting of Westmeath County Board last Wednesday night, when Westmeath’s Central Council delegate, Seamus ” Faoláin, outlined the proposal to delegates.

“Last Saturday, we were having a great day in Columb Barracks, when we heard the bad news coming through,” said a dismayed Mr Sheridan. “I’d like to compliment Seamus [” Faoláin] on the work he has done to back Westmeath at Central Council.

“We have to move on now. It’s tough when you’re promised support for an initiative, and then people change their mind, but that’s how it is.

“The important thing now is that we move on, and that people in hurling clubs in Westmeath understand that we put in a big effort to give Westmeath hurling a lift.

“We can’t be negative. It’s time for the players to stand up and be counted now, to give a commitment to [Westmeath senior hurling manager] Brian Hanley and the county, and to get us out of Division 2A in 2014.”

At last week’s county board meeting in Cusack Park, Westmeath hurling committee chairman Matty Conaty confirmed that preliminary fitness tests have been carried out, as Brian Hanley builds his panel for the 2014 campaign.

The Athenry man and his backroom team were buoyed by the news last week that St Oliver Plunketts forward Ciaran Curley is to switch codes at inter-county level.

Curley was a member of the Westmeath senior football panel which, under Pat Flanagan, reached a league final earlier this year.

He also played a key role in St Oliver Plunketts’ road to this year’s Westmeath senior hurling final.