Nevertheless, he is glad that the conversation about the state of hurling in Lory Meagher and Nickey Rackard Cup counties is being had but questions the idea of money being required to improve the game in them.

“Why does everything have to cost money? By that I mean, you give £100,000 to Leitrim, for example, and that might get you three GDOs (games development officers) a year and that’s great and that might get you more kids playing GoGames and at primary. But as soon as they get to U13 everyone knows they’ll stop because Gaelic football then goes to three nights a week and every under-age manager thinks he’s Mickey Harte and there’s no space in the calendar.

“Whereas, if the GAA insisted at under-age that there are two dual weeks and a hurling only week in every month it would give hurling space to breathe and secondly and more importantly it gives players a chance to breathe.

“The dual player is going out of the game at club level. You’re seeing fellas retire from clubs at 24, 25. They’re not walking away because they don’t love the game; they’re walking away because they’re training all of the time.” 

Sheehan, whose family hails from Banteer, wants to see part of inter-county managers’ obligations to include giving a few hours a week to under-age hurlers.

“I’ve said this to (GPA chief executive) Tom Parsons, all over the country we’re paying managers. I don’t claim expenses because I’m in a happy position in a good job which allows me to do that. But managers are getting paid, not always the same amount.

“What about if we were to turn around to all these inter-county managers at senior and U20 and say, ‘Well if you want to take this job, we want you to do five hours a week in a few of the local schools.’ Why not when we’re effectively paying them already. An extra 10 hours a week of coaching and it’s not costing the GAA anything over than what they’re already paying out.

“The GAA, GPA need to come together for the right solution and it’s not by throwing more money at the issue. A lot of money has been spent on hurling in these counties – it mightn’t have been as much some people might like – but has its reach increased in the last 25 years? Probably not. That’s an indictment on every single one of us.” 

Sheehan seriously questions that the proposal to cut the counties from the hurling league was done in isolation by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).

“What has to be asked if how disingenuous some of these counties are. Are they suggesting the CCCC never talked to them in advance? Some of the county boards are rowing back now because of the reaction. If people think the CCCC didn’t get tacit agreement from the counties then they’re living in cloud cuckoo land.” 

In the money debate, Sheehan feels the GAA will have to prioritise either developing or struggling hurling counties over the other. “If you speak to Laois or Offaly, they need more money to get into the Liam MacCarthy Cup to compete properly. You then have a group like Carlow, Kerry and ourselves where we have one or two real areas of strength like the Ards Peninsula, North Kerry or Carlow’s border with Kilkenny but with 10 to 12 clubs or fewer.

“Then there is this group of (five) counties but also the likes of Roscommon and others in the Nickey Rackard who are struggling to keep their heads up above water.

“You’re in Croke Park, you’re Tom Ryan and you’re saying, ‘Well, we can’t do everything. We don’t have a magic money tree’. There’s a real debate needed there – is it hurling survival or hurling development? We can’t do it all the same time.”