Railway Cup sponsor Martin Donnelly has said he is fine with Croke Park's decision to suspend the competition for this season as long as a proper plan is put in place for the future.

Donnelly, who is believed to have pumped 600,000 euro into the inter-pros, says he was not contacted on the decision not to hold the competition this season, which was decided at Annual Congress at the weekend.

"They didn't say anything to me about it," Donnelly told The Clare People newspaper.

"Suspension is okay as long as the year is used to put a proper plan in place for the interpros. They could not go on the way they were, because marketing and a proper place on the master fixtures plan has to be found out for the competition," he added.

Sponsoring the series since 2002, Donnelly has suggested that holding the finals abroad was a huge attraction for players in the past, which added "a new dimension", but says it's up to the GAA to come up with a plan to keep the competition alive.

"Now it's up to Croke Park to take this year out and come up with a proper plan to ensure that the interpros can have a future," he said.

"I know that the Ulster Council in particular are very strong believers in the competition and they won't allow Croke Park to just leave things as they are.

"I'm confident that they can be saved, but the will has to be there at the top level." Tweet

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