New York GAA chief Sean Price has defended the presence of the side in the Lory Meagher Cup and has also hit out at the criticism of Johnny Glynn's involvement in a tier-five championship final.
The Gaelic Park side were parachuted in at the semi-final stage after approval at Congress earlier this year and subsequent wins over, firstly, Monaghan and then Cavan in the final secured the silverware at Croke Park.
Prior to their last-four clash with Monaghan, Oriel manager Arthur Hughes had labelled the move "an absolute disgrace" but the Kerry native told The Championship podcast that it was a good thing for the game.
"You can see where Monaghan and Cavan are coming from, they’re trying to promote hurling in their own counties; they’re trying to grow the game and sometimes it’s not easy," said the New York chairperson.
"We identified this ourselves a couple of years ago, we had three senior teams four years ago, we have six now, we have six junior teams and we have a couple of novice teams.
"One of the pillars we decided on was to get into the Lory Meagher and the GAA backed it and they put us in.
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"Look it’s a situation that isn't our fault, it isn't Cavan’s fault, I saw some of the Cavan players crying after the game, they’d put their heart and soul into it.
"We got the goals, six points at the end was probably a fair reflection but it was never going to be the runaway that people were talking about.
"The delegates at Congress had backed it and put us in there and look, we’re up to Nickey Rackard next year and it’s probably going to be a huge step for us."
Glynn’s name was the most notable on the New York teamsheet in the 4-17 to 2-17 final win over Cavan given that eight years previous he had started at full-forward as Galway lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup at the same venue.
For Price though, such sniping was short-sighted.
"Johnny Glynn was targeted because he has an All-Ireland medal but Johnny Glynn is living in New York since 2017.
"We’re delighted to have him, he’s vice-chairman of the board, the amount of time he puts in is colossal, so I don’t think it’s fair to single him out.
"People were saying 'an All-Ireland winner shouldn’t be allowed to play in the Lory Meagher’ but you can’t be singled out because of where you live or because you transferred out or because you decided to live in a foreign country.
"It’s all about promoting the game, it’s world GAA, it’s games at home, it’s games all over, we’re one big family whether we like it or not.
"Sometimes it’s dysfunctional but that’s what we are as a family."
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