Noun
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see senior, hurling.
(Ireland, politics, figuratively) serious, difficult, important business; hardball
2017 April 28, Conor Lally, “Tough game of senior hurling at Policing Authority session”, in The Irish Times:Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has weathered the storms of the last couple of months, showing a streak too tough to be pushed out by the politicians in Leinster House.But when the ball was thrown in to commence a public session of the Policing Authority on Thursday, it was senior hurling all the way.
2018 February 1, Darragh O'Brien, "Brexit Issues: British Irish Chamber of Commerce" Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence debate (Oireachtas):
The question is how to make Brexit work for all of us. [...] Phase one was the easiest, if any of it could be called easy. Phase two is what will really be difficult. We are into senior hurling now, to use an Irish phrase. The British will understand that pretty soon.