Jarlath Burns Suggests Alternative Opponents For New York In GAA Championship

Having won their first competitive match on home soil in 2023, it's fair to say that the Connacht Championship match in New York each year has become a staple of the GAA calendar.

Each season, one Connacht county takes the trip across the Atlantic to face The Exiles. While those fixtures were previously straightforward affairs for the visiting teams, there have been a number of close matches in recent years.

The penalty shootout win over Leitrim a couple of years ago was a massive occasion, cementing New York's status as a genuine inter-county team.

In saying that, their future GAA fixture list is looking a bit uncertain at the moment.

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The five Connacht counties each take turns visiting New York, meaning they will make the journey to the USA once every five years. That is largely down to the cost associated with the trip, with it being thought that Galway forked out in the region of €250,000 to fulfil their game in 2025.

The agreement that sees New York feature in the Connacht Championship is not a permanent one, with the situation set to be revisited after next year. Could we see a change to how their opponents are selected after that point?

As reported by John Fogarty in the Irish Examiner, GAA President Jarlath Burns suggested at an event in San Francisco this summer that having the reigning All-Ireland champions open their championship campaign in New York could be an alternative moving forward.

That first round of the championship in New York is a very important part of what New York are about.

They look forward to it, that’s their main economic driver as well.

That agreement that they have with Connacht is starting to come to an end. Personally, I would like to see the All-Ireland champions go out and start their championship every year in New York. It would be a fantastic weekend for everybody.

It remains to be seen how such a move would affect the makeup of the provincial championships, although the future of those competitions is still in doubt in any case.

Having the Sam Maguire holders travel to New York would certainly be a showcase event. In saying that, it would make the prospect of New York repeating that famous victory over Leitrim a remote one.

It will be interesting to see if the GAA could look to go down this route over the coming years.