GAA President-elect Liam O'Neill has warned that hurling could be wiped out unless something is done to help weaker counties develop the sport.
Launching the National Hurling Development Plan at Croke Park, O'Neill made it clear that the sport is struggling in some counties and unless it is addressed hurling would fail to survive.
"We looked at the nine developing counties (Longford, Louth, Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal, Tyrone, Cavan, Monaghan and Fermanagh)," said O'Neill, who spent three years putting together a plan to ensure the survival of the sport.
"We looked at the clubs in those counties. We couldn’t believe how thin a thread hurling is hanging by in some of those counties. It was only after we did the work and investigated that we found out how weak hurling really is and we said that we have to develop the club hurling.
"Hurling was hanging by a thread and needed some sort of an intervention. It was never going to happen if we did what we did before. The only other parallel (with hurling) in Irish society is the amount of effort that has gone into the promotion of the Irish language.
"We’ve had money thrown at the Irish language over the generations, bad efforts made at schooling as well — we did the same with hurling, it’s been all about throwing money.
"This is a change. We’re getting buy-in from people and this is people-based, it’s about games first, about getting hurling played."
Some of the proposals put forward included the Tain Adult Club Hurling League, which would provide regular fixtures in developing counties, the establishment of the National Hurling and Camogie Development Centre, promotion of the games and the appointment of mentors who will collaborate with the county boards and assist managers and coaches involved at underage level.
"It has to work — this is not just rhetoric. I think this is one of the most significant things to happen in the history of the organisation," the incoming president added.
"We now have a situation where we have a 13-county, 60-teamconglomerate with the imprimatur of Central Council that no fixture can be made against them (on those game dates).
"If someone told me five years ago that in the nine developing counties you would get to a situation where that could he brought about, you would have said that this was crazy."