Murray was gracious in defeat, and made a point in calling on the Camogie Association to contribute funds towards team holidays as he finished his press conference.
“I probably talked about it before, but I promised myself I’d say it this year,” said Murray.
“I think Cork and Galway have been unbelievable the last three years, and they’ve brought camogie to a different level. Them girls, when we won the All-Ireland last year, we were out fundraising. The same when we won the All-Ireland in 2019, going around to club matches with buckets, asking people for fivers, asking people for tenners, asking people for change.
“I think it was 1993 when (former Kilkenny captain) Eddie O’Connor spoke in the Hogan Stand here, that’s nearly 35 years ago now, and talked about the GAA providing money for a holiday. I know the GAA are looked after – €150,000 (is the grant given to each of the male senior finalists)
“I think these girls deserve… they don’t need to go collecting money in the next few weeks to go on a holiday. I think both teams should be…
“We talk about integration, we talk about closing the gap. It was brilliant to hear Brian Molloy (Camogie Association president) canvassing for these players, and I think that needs to be done now. I think these players, I think that camogie deserves some money to put into a fund for a holiday for them players, and not to have them go out raising money over the next few weeks.
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“The two teams have done so much for camogie, and so much for promotion of that sport, that there should be some financial link there for them, and some money put in. You’re not looking for an awful lot of money – €20,000 to €25,000 would do so much for us.
“We wouldn’t have got out last year to New York only for Galway GAA, and I couldn’t thank them enough for providing us with €100 tickets. But we still had to go and sell them tickets, and I think the day is coming now where, if we want to close the gap, that’s something that we can look at going forward.”
Murray continued: “I think the Camogie Association should be (contributing), I’m not going to go into how much money they’ve in the coffers or anything like that, but I think these players deserve it.
“Why should the male sports, the hurling and football – and okay, there’s big crowds of that, but we’re not looking for €150,000 now to go on holiday but certainly €20,000, €25,000 per county would do so much, and it would mean we wouldn’t have to go and raise money just to get out on holiday next year.”
A record crowd of 33,419 watched Cork reign supreme thanks to second-half goals from Saorise McCarthy and Órlaith Cahalane.
Rebels boss Ger Manley was asked if he agreed with Murray’s comments afterwards. ”Oh totally. I suppose we’re lucky enough with the sponsors we get, but I’d agree that the girls deserve a break,” he said.
Separately, Manley noted: “These girls, they put so much more in than the lads, do you know what I mean? It’s easy for the lads. They (the girls) play for a lot of stuff themselves. They county board are very good alright, but we do have to do that type of stuff.”
On the game itself, Murray added: “Cork are deserving champions. “I’m delighted with our players, the resilience, the character they showed, and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough, but they died with their boots on.
“Look it, goals win games. They got two sucker punch goals in fairness, two really good goals from their point of view. I think we’d have a lot of regrets, but every losing team has them.”
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Galway boss: All-Ireland camogie finalists shouldn't have to fundraise for team holidays
GALWAY BOSS CATHAL Murray says the All-Ireland senior camogie finalists should not have to fundraise for their team holidays.
The Tribe relinquished the O’Duffy Cup to great rivals Cork following a 2-14 to 0-19 loss in front of a record crowd at Croke Park on Sunday.
Murray was gracious in defeat, and made a point in calling on the Camogie Association to contribute funds towards team holidays as he finished his press conference.
“I probably talked about it before, but I promised myself I’d say it this year,” said Murray.
“I think Cork and Galway have been unbelievable the last three years, and they’ve brought camogie to a different level. Them girls, when we won the All-Ireland last year, we were out fundraising. The same when we won the All-Ireland in 2019, going around to club matches with buckets, asking people for fivers, asking people for tenners, asking people for change.
“I think it was 1993 when (former Kilkenny captain) Eddie O’Connor spoke in the Hogan Stand here, that’s nearly 35 years ago now, and talked about the GAA providing money for a holiday. I know the GAA are looked after – €150,000 (is the grant given to each of the male senior finalists)
“I think these girls deserve… they don’t need to go collecting money in the next few weeks to go on a holiday. I think both teams should be…
“We talk about integration, we talk about closing the gap. It was brilliant to hear Brian Molloy (Camogie Association president) canvassing for these players, and I think that needs to be done now. I think these players, I think that camogie deserves some money to put into a fund for a holiday for them players, and not to have them go out raising money over the next few weeks.
“The two teams have done so much for camogie, and so much for promotion of that sport, that there should be some financial link there for them, and some money put in. You’re not looking for an awful lot of money – €20,000 to €25,000 would do so much for us.
“We wouldn’t have got out last year to New York only for Galway GAA, and I couldn’t thank them enough for providing us with €100 tickets. But we still had to go and sell them tickets, and I think the day is coming now where, if we want to close the gap, that’s something that we can look at going forward.”
Murray continued: “I think the Camogie Association should be (contributing), I’m not going to go into how much money they’ve in the coffers or anything like that, but I think these players deserve it.
“Why should the male sports, the hurling and football – and okay, there’s big crowds of that, but we’re not looking for €150,000 now to go on holiday but certainly €20,000, €25,000 per county would do so much, and it would mean we wouldn’t have to go and raise money just to get out on holiday next year.”
A record crowd of 33,419 watched Cork reign supreme thanks to second-half goals from Saorise McCarthy and Órlaith Cahalane.
Rebels boss Ger Manley was asked if he agreed with Murray’s comments afterwards. ”Oh totally. I suppose we’re lucky enough with the sponsors we get, but I’d agree that the girls deserve a break,” he said.
Separately, Manley noted: “These girls, they put so much more in than the lads, do you know what I mean? It’s easy for the lads. They (the girls) play for a lot of stuff themselves. They county board are very good alright, but we do have to do that type of stuff.”
On the game itself, Murray added: “Cork are deserving champions. “I’m delighted with our players, the resilience, the character they showed, and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough, but they died with their boots on.
“Look it, goals win games. They got two sucker punch goals in fairness, two really good goals from their point of view. I think we’d have a lot of regrets, but every losing team has them.”
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