Monaghan boss hammers GAA over ‘joke’ decision for New York

He labelled the decision as an "absolute disgrace".

It was announced at Congress, in February, that a proposal from the Central Council and the CCCC was passed which allowed New York into the semi-finals of the cup.

He said: "I think it’s an absolute disgrace. It’s not that long ago the GAA were trying to get rid of five counties in Ireland from playing in the National League, and now the next thing they’ve done is bringing in New York.

"It’s an absolute joke in my opinion – you don’t know what you’re coming up against, what level they’re at, and it’s completely unfair to just fly a team into the semi-finals. If you’re going to participate in a competition, you should be there from the start."

Former Fermanagh boss, Joe Baldwin, believes New York have a right to compete in inter-county hurling's fifth tier and sees no other way to accommodate them. Baldwin did sympathise with the impact this could have on the Farney County, who secured their semi-final place after a late draw against Longford.

He said: "From a Monaghan point of view, it, it gets them another game, and maybe the game could be good for them, maybe the rest could be good for them. Only time will tell.

"But if New York are as strong as people are saying, it's going to be really disappointing for Monaghan."