Cúltec synthetic hurley secures place in GAA museum

The first synthetic hurley - made by Offaly company Cúltec - to be used at Croke Park has secured a spot in the GAA museum. Taoiseach Brian Cowen made the announcement at a special ceremony in Croke Park last Monday. Three players from the Offaly camogie team which won the All-Ireland junior title last year took to the Croke Park field with a Cúltec hurley. The camogie champions handed back a Cúltec hurley signed by the Offaly squad to Cúltec, and this is the hurl that has secured a spot in the Croke Park museum. Brian Cowen said: "I would like to commend the Cúltec team, including Tom Wright, John and Gerry Grehan and Steven Lee, for all the hard work they put into the design of the hurley. Cúltec combines the best of the old with the new and shows how modern technology can enhance a much loved and ancient game." The Cúltec hurley is fast gaining momentum as the hurley of choice by some of the top players in the country. County players such as Dublin's Kevin Flynn and Diarmuid Horan of Offaly are among those who take to the field with Cúltec hurleys in hand. Diarmuid, whose father Padraig captained Offaly to their first All-Ireland hurling title in 1981, said: "I prefer them to ash; there is a cleaner strike and a bit more distance than the average hurley. But, the real value is consistency as if you break one you replace with an exact copy." He added: "I love a light hurley and the Cúltec doesn't change - it is the same on a wet day as a dry one." The brains behind the Cúltec Hurley are Offaly businessmen John Grehan and Tom Wright. Retired school teacher Tom said he hoped that in time hurling and camogie players all over the country would give the Cúltec hurley a go. Tom has had a life-long interest in hurling having played in all grades. His teaching career spanned 40 years and during all this time he coached school teams as well as underage hurling and camogie teams in his local club. "It was the great difficulty in obtaining suitable, quality and consistent hurleys which led us to investigate the possibility of manufacturing the perfect hurley," explained Tom. John Grehan whose background included Materials Engineering said: "Almost every other sport in the world has benefited substantially from synthetic materials. Tennis rackets, golf clubs, fishing rods, snooker cues, ski equipment and even hockey and cricket have exploited the new technologies. So why not hurling?" He thanked everyone at the newly revamped Croke Park Museum for securing the Cúltec hurley a place in the illustrious GAA history books. The Cúltec hurley is the result of seven years of research and development combining space age materials and the latest manufacturing techniques. Research and Development of the Cúltec hurley was done in Ferbane, County Offaly. Testing and performance analysis was carried out at the Nanotechnology and Materials Research Centre attached to Athlone IT.