THE BIG TALKING point from Congress today was the defeat of the motion tabled by Wexford that sought to provide greater transparency to the voting process.
Motion 22 was tabled by former All-Ireland winning manager Liam Griffin and supported by the Club Players Association (CPA) but was heavily defeated on the second day of Congress with 83% of delegates against it.
“We believe it’s in the interest of the organisation that the GAA is transparent and accountable,” Griffin said prior to the vote.
“This motion goes to the heart of what the GAA is about – honesty and democracy.”
Seamus Hickey supported the motion on behalf of the Gaelic Players Association (GPA), but Cork chairperson Tracey Kennedy spoke strongly against it.
“I have no fear of transparency or accountability but the sentiment behind this motion seems to me to suggest there is something fundamentally wrong at the heart of the Association,” Kennedy stated.
“If that is case it must be resolved by clubs themselves and not by Congress.”
In the first motion of the day, Motion 1, Congress voted to ban sponsorship deals with gambling companies with the support of 93% of delegates.
Motion 13, which proposed to give a one-match ban for a player guilty of ‘minor physical interference with an opposing team official’, was also passed with 93% of the vote. It arose from Jason Forde’s tussle with Davy Fitzgerald last year, with Forde initially charged with ’contributing to a melee’ and banned for two games.
Motion 14 was passed with a ’Yes’ vote of 94%. It clarifies the circumstances under which the Competitions Control Committee can commence disciplinary action. If an incident is not in a referee’s report, the CCC must consult the match official first. If the referee’s report states the incident has been dealt with, the matter is closed.
Motion 24 was approved with a 90% vote in favour of allowing the use of overseas GAA property by other sports.
Motion 26 received an 82% vote in its favour, which amends the rule that allows hurlers to play for a county they are resident in so it’s restricted to counties participating in the Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher Cups. Prior to that, only counties playing in Division 1 of the Allianz Hurling League or the Liam MacCarthy Cup were forbidden from selecting such players.
Motion 29 was approved with a 92% vote, amending the rule so only a player playing a senior inter-county championship match is ineligible to participate in that year’s U20 championship. This season, any player named on a senior panel is ineligible.
Motion 30 received 75% voting in its favour and brings hurling in line with football by changing the U21 grade to U20 instead.
Motion 36, which sought to restructure the All-Ireland minor football championship on a round-robin basis with teams seeded into eight groups of four, was defeated with 73% voting against it.
Finally, Motion 40 which sought to remove the rule preventing a player sent-off in a final from participating in the after-match presentation ceremony, was passed with 89% of delegates voting in its favour.
The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!
