Tulla delegate proposes radical changes

ARISING from comments by secretary Pat Fitzgerald in his report to convention in relation to fixtures issues, Tulla delegate Michael O’Halloran raised the issue at last week’s gathering.
“The secretary had documented the situation that prevails presently and he outlines the difficulties and the frustrations experienced by the club in relation to fixtures. Each year, there is a master fixtures programme put together and invariably that programme is discarded and next year, in my opinion, is going to be no different. For the past 15 years, we have addressed the fixture situation. Various recommendations have been made, commitments have been given by the executive and continually these undertakings are shelved. We now arrive at a situation where there is an impasse, as far as I am concerned between the clubs and the county. Both parties need to be accommodated. Looking at the inter-county scenario, it is the ambition of the managements of all teams to progress with a view to winning provincial or All-Ireland honours. The longer a team prevails in a competition, the more difficult it becomes for the club. Once the management of an inter-county team appears at a board meeting and look for certain concessions, invariably they are accommodated. No board delegate wishes to stand in the way of a team’s preparation and the possibility of inter-county success. The consequence of this is total chaos in trying to run our club fixtures. A committee is presently tasked with finding a solution. If the seven members of this committee were blessed with the wisdom of Soloman, they would not resolve the issue. The subject has to be broadened out. It cannot be resolved with the involvement, the understanding and the co-operation of both the provincial council and central council. This is a three-dimensional problem, which needs imput from the board, the provincial and central councils. It affects all units of the association nationwide. We want to play our club championships in the summer season, we want to retain the integrity of our provincial championships, we want an All-Ireland series, Croke Park want a close season and, finally, some sections are looking for an open draw,” said O’Halloran.
As this stage of his presentation, the chairman asked if he had met with the committee currently looking at the Clare structure to which the Tulla man replied, “No”. He added that neither had he submitted his recommendations to the committee.
Continuing, and addressing his comments to hurling only, he suggested the running of a club championship between April 1 and August 15. “The inter-county competition will take place subsequent to August 15. I suggest a 12-county competition with a provincial championship in Leinster and Munster with six teams, five in Munster and six in Leinster, which will accommodate Galway and Antrim plus one more. To accommodate the open draw, there may be teams from Munster in the Leinster championship and teams from Leinster in Munster. I would abolish the All-Ireland semi-finals and have an All-Ireland final to be played not later than the second Sunday in October. By doing this, we would retain the club championship within the counties, we would avoid ongoing conflict between club and county, we would retain the integrity of provincial competition, we would satisfy the needs of the open draw and we would have an all-Ireland series.” The Tulla delegate added, “I am not saying that I have the answers to the problem but there is some merit in this”.
Pat Fitzgerald agreed with Michael O’Halloran. According to Tubber’s Michael Lee, “If the powers that be give at least one weekend for club competition, we could have a meaningful competition”. In relation to the suggestion to reduce the number of teams in the championship, he reminded delegates that “for the last five years, we have seen four new teams winning the senior championship and that has to be good. I would imagine that for the next two or three years, we could see two more new clubs winning the senior championship. There is no fear but that the traditional clubs will come and win championships. Reducing the number of clubs at this time is not the appropriate way forward.”
“It’s the entire body of Clare GAA who are looking into the structures. I put a committee in place following a proposal from the O’Currys club. It’s not Michael O’Neill or any other individual that is doing this and let nobody else put any other slant of spin on it,” chairman Michael O’Neill said in reply to the Tubber’s delegate suggestion that a certain spin is being put on this. “What I am reading in the papers with regard to what is the cure for all ills certainly is not the cure for all ills. All our clubs must open their eyes and look at the situation.
“I’ve said already hard decisions will probably have to be made early in the new year and we probably will have to make representations to Munster and to Croke Park,” the chairman added.