The Leinster hurling championship is still a couple of months away, but the hurlers of Wexford are already ahead of their Kilkenny rivals. The "yellow-bellies" are in front, not on the field of play but in the fund-raising stakes. Both counties have started money-raising drives with identical objectives, to purchase CAT scanners for local hospitals by next year.
Both have also chosen leading members of their hurling fraternities to lead their appeals, with Wexford's All-Ireland winning manager, Liam Griffin, and Kilkenny star D.J. Carey among the patrons of the respective campaigns.
Wexford were first out of the blocks. The appeal to raise £200,000 - half the final cost - for a CAT scanner for Wexford General Hospital was opened on March 8th, and already a quarter of the target has been raised.
"I've been involved in fundraising before, but I've never seen anything like this," says Mr Tom Williams, the campaign's public relations officer. "One lady walked up and gave us £1,000 which I'd say she couldn't afford. We had an anonymous donation of £5,000. The response has been tremendous."
Dr Paddy McKiernan, a clinical director at the hospital, said a CAT scanner was essential for the provision of safe, acute services at the hospital which caters for all of Co Wexford and parts of south Co Carlow and Co Wicklow. He said many of those needing CAT scan examinations were referred to Waterford Regional Hospital.
However, for emergency investigations, Co Wexford patients were usually sent to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. "This can often result in a dangerous and life-threatening delay for the patient."
In Co Kilkenny, a similar fundraising drive was launched on Monday by the chairwoman of the Friends of St Luke's Hospital, Ms Barbara Schofield. Again, the objective is to raise £200,000 towards the cost of a CAT scanner for St Luke's, which serves Co Carlow and Co Kilkenny.
As is also the case in Co Wexford, the remaining £200,000 required is to be provided by the South Eastern Health Board.
The Friends of St Luke's have previously raised some £150,000 towards a variety of services for the hospital, so this is by far the biggest single campaign organised by the group.
A spokesman for the group, Mr Declan McCann, said that apart from the immediate health implications - CAT scanners are used to investigate many illnesses and diseases - there were spin-off benefits.
"Any major hospital looking to the future has to have a CAT scanner. Kilkenny is a very attractive place to do business, but one of the things an investor coming in will ask is: `What facilities do you have available locally?' and this is an important one." The Wexford campaigners have opened an account at the Bank of Ireland's Custom House Quay branch in Wexford.
The name of the account is "Wexford General Hospital, CAT Scan Appeal". The account number is 48176689, and the code 90-67-18.
An account is also to be set up for the Kilkenny appeal.
In the meantime anyone interested in contributing can phone 056-21519 or e-mail dbsch@indigo.ie