On GAA: It mightn't have been the Mae West and certainly it hasn't been the best May but the weekend just gone prompted more questions for the hurling championship - and not all of them about the advisability of staging matches in a swamp, writes Seán Moran.

There was the predictable rush to judgment afterwards and whereas there's no plausible way of justifying the decision to let the two matches go ahead in Portlaoise, it's easy to understand how it happened without recourse to conspiracy theory.

Leinster secretary Michael Delaney explained the decisions had been left up to the referee, as is the norm in these cases. He denied there had been pressure to play the fixtures saying that dates had been worked out for any postponements. He also denied that RTÉ had any influence on the matter pointing out that the Leinster Council were unaware RTÉ were going to show the Westmeath-Dublin match in place of the already abandoned Galway-Sligo tie.

But of course there is pressure to play matches even in extreme conditions and it's hard to blame referees for taking an optimistic view of the field conditions. No one would wittingly ordain play on a dangerous surface but it's plainly more inconvenient to call off a match with spectators in attendance and the teams ready to go.

It may have been relevant that the two referees in Portlaoise, Fergus Smith from Meath and Tipperary's Johnny Ryan, are at the start of their intercounty careers. In the words of one official: "There's even more reluctance to call off club games and that would be a factor with refs who don't have a lot of experience at county level."

In support of this theory is the alacrity with which the vastly experienced Pat McEnaney called off the Connacht football fixture in Pearse Stadium. But in fairness to both referees at O'Moore Park, they took their decision in consultation with officials from the counties involved. Honest mistake or not, the sight of a televised cross between hurling and water skiing was not made any more palatable by the competitiveness of the match or the delight of Westmeath at recording an unexpected success.

Dr Pat Duggan, chair of the GAA's new Medical, Scientific and Welfare Committee (MSWC), said he felt conditions were dangerous and that he expected his committee to consider the matter further.

Given referees are so central to matches anyway, there is an argument they shouldn't be asked to bear the additional responsibility of giving fixtures the go-ahead. Their word is final and that's a big onus.

Organising officials are under similar, albeit subconscious, pressure from the inconvenience of calling off matches even though no one would suggest they would do anything that would endanger the safety of players.

It would be useful for the deliberative procedure to be tightened through the involvement of medical personnel and on the basis of guidelines laid down by the MSWC. It might sound like taking a hammer-action drill to a peanut given the number of times these circumstances arise in championship but such directives would be useful at those times of the year when a flooded pitch is less of a rarity.

In between the ebb and flow of the controversy Westmeath's achievement was a little lost but that's the nature of the championship for teams 10 to 12 in the MacCarthy Cup. The top nine counties have specific agenda, some to win the All-Ireland and others to qualify at least for the quarter-finals. But for the other three - this year, Dublin, Laois and Westmeath - the objective is to avoid being relegated.

There will always be the lingering aspiration to rise in the pecking order but on the basis of the weekend that is a pipe dream.

There was another reason for the muted response to Westmeath's win and that was the general hope Dublin hurling, after the underage successes of the past 12 months, might be rising to a place in the pecking order where the county could challenge the top nine. Leinster needs the variety and hurling at large is fascinated by the prospect of the game taking some sort of foothold in the city and replicating the hype the football supporters bring.

So the sight of Dublin bottoming out even in foul conditions to a county like Westmeath was a setback on a number of fronts that have nothing to do with hostility or mean-mindedness towards Séamus Qualter's courageous team, which was missing a number of first-choice players.

All's not lost for Dublin anyway. In the short term - and this speculation isn't always considered seemly - maybe they are better off avoiding evisceration by Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final and concentrating on their qualifier round-robin matches when, it is hoped, the weather will be more suitable for lighter, knackier players.

These realities were reflected in manager Tommy Naughton's relatively stoic acceptance of the defeat whereas Qualter had the enthusiasm of a man who had met his seasonal target on the first day and could look forward to the sense of occasion the visit of Kilkenny should generate in Mullingar.

As regards the Ulster final a sense of occasion is still a medium-term prospect. There's not much to say about this slightly sad affair except it must prompt the GAA to reconsider the advisability of having New York in the provincial championships.

As pointed out by Ulster secretary Danny Murphy, the province bends over backwards to accommodate New York by allowing them a home semi-final every year. If their circumstances don't permit travel to Belfast for the final, there's little point in contesting the final. Already it's likely the publicity surrounding the lack of appropriate visas among the New York panel has subjected them to an unhelpful focus.

With people's livelihoods and more at stake in the hostile environment of post-9/11 US, the risks are no longer commensurate with a token appearance in senior championship - and it is tokenistic because as soon as it's not, as in this year, the provincial schedules become unworkable. Better to recognise the work of the GAA abroad by having the Ring Cup winners play New York for a separate trophy.