Former Wexford manager Tony Dempsey has called for the hurling championship to be restored to the prime summer months and warned that the sport is "under threat".
Since the advent of the split season, the inter-county season has culminated in July, and this year, it's Wexford, Offaly, Antrim, defending All-Ireland champions Clare and Waterford who see their campaigns end before the start of June following their respective provincial championship exits.
Dempsey, who also previously served as Wexford county board chairman, said that, in his view, the situation was not tenable in the long-term for counties like his own and Waterford.
"We're bitterly disappointed because the summer is when young people share the joy of school holidays with being able to watch their elite performers - in our case Lee Chin and Rory O'Connor - and not only to watch them but to enjoy them without the problem of trying to attend school on a Monday," he told RTÉ Sport's Pauric Lodge.
"So school holidays will now be a time for Wexford, Waterford and of course Clare and many other counties when the performers will be gone from there. We won't be able to see them.
"The reality is we promote and market our games - every sport that does that through the performance of their best elite athletes. We hand over the summer, the best time for an elderly person or a youngster who doesn't have the worry of school to attend and to support and to watch our hurlers and indeed our footballers. So we've handed it over to other sports."
Dempsey said the argument that the split season has been brought into give succour and more exposure to the club game is "a nonsense"
"You could start your club championships and play inter-county games at the same time. It's happened for over a century," he said.
Without the situation being addressed, Dempsey offered the view that hurling in certain counties would be in a precarious position.
"Hurling is under threat. I read an article, I think it was in the Independent yesterday where one of their sportswriters talked about the possibility of Wexford and Waterford drifting from the mainstream of hurling," he said.
"I think he might be talking about the Joe McDonagh competition for us or Waterford. Hopefully that won't happen but there is a danger that it can happen.
"You perform best during summer, you improve your skills, you hone your skills in summer. County teams in Wexford, now that's gone. We're not in minor, we're not in under-21, we're not in senior.
"So I think it's possible to have competitions for our clubs and inter-county during the best time of the year."
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