THEY may have blown hapless Limerick away yesterday, but now the Dublin hurlers have been blown off course themselves – by the infamous volcanic ash cloud hovering over most of Europe.
Anthony Daly’s Sky Blues were due to fly out to La Manga today for a five-day training camp, as a key element of their preparations for championship, (Leinster SHC quarter-final v Carlow or Laois, June 6) but that plan has been scotched by the ‘no fly zone’ that has grounded aircraft across the continent.
Instead, the hurlers have decamped to ‘Costa del Mayo’ – namely the Breaffy International Sports Hotel, just outside Castlebar.
The Breaffy House resort boasts a Centre for Sports and Training Excellence, and the Dubs obvious view this as the best home-grown alternative to La Manga in these unusual circumstances.
They aren’t the only hurlers whose best-laid training plans have been scuppered by an Icelandic volcano – Liam Sheedy’s Tipp squad have been forced to move their training camp from a Spanish location to Maynooth in Co Kildare, understood to be Carton House.
MONITORING
Dublin county board chairman Gerry Harrington confirmed that Dublin had switched to their west of Ireland ‘Plan B’.
“They were monitoring the situation with the ash cloud. Once the airports were closed, you can’t go anywhere. Even if they got out, they may not have been able to get back – and we have club championships on this weekend,” Harrington explained.
– Frank Roche
