This weekend, they have produced that vanishingly rare things; a motion that will – hopefully – be debated at the annual GAA Congress.
Before we get to the explainer part, we might just stick a pin in a few things. By and large, Congress has earned the reputation of being a rubber-stamping exercise for Central Council’s wishes and desires.
The days of multiple motions popping up from small units within the association are diminishing. Out of 25 motions, only seven come from clubs.
Call it inertia or a lack of awareness. Not every member of the association realises they can have their voice heard in this democratic utopia.
In theory.
They might not make it easy for you. Motions can be ruled out of order. The opportunity for discussion over the Allianz sponsorship will be and has been curtailed to date.
You might be asked to come back the following year, sweet nothings huskily muttered into your ear as you lose heart completely.
Motion 7 on the Clár comes from Tempo Maguires and just to note three things before we get into it; 1. This is my home club. I disgraced the jersey as a player, threw away finals as a coach and embarrassed myself in the committee rooms. 2. I happen to agree with what they are doing here, and 3. That’s ok. It’s cool. It’s not unprofessional. It’s not Parish Pump Politics. Stop being so lame, Poindexter.
Club Chairman, and current Fermanagh CEO, Phil Flanagan will speak in favour of bringing the All-Ireland minor final back to Croke Park, as a curtain-raiser to the senior final.
They tried this a few years ago. Pressure was brought to bear upon the county that they had to withdraw the motion. People approached Fermanagh delegates and instructed/invited them to drop it. Big hitters on the Croke Park political scene also tried some mild coercion, cajoling, but stopped short of Chinese Burns.
Eventually, they dropped it. But now it’s back, bolstered by another couple of years where the presentation of the All-Ireland finals has been more than a bit ‘meh.’
Take last year’s All-Ireland football final.
Music was provided by Fiach Moriarty and John Byrne. Ok. Fine.
There was also a ‘live show’ called ‘The Warm Up’ that featured interviews with the likes of Rory Kavanagh, Marc Ó Sé and Paddy Andrews, pitchside.
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Nobody in the stadium paid the slightest bit of attention. It’s not like the lads had been under-exposed throughout the season and by then, all would have been on dozens of Podcasts, their juiciest opinions clipped and teased and socially media-ed to generate the clicks.
What could they say at that point anyway?
The unsatisfactory nature of the All-Ireland finals is compounded by the way the jubilee teams are presented.
Before the minor match was scrapped, they were unveiled between the two games. Usually, a decent crowd would be in their seats by half-time of the minor match anyway and the atmosphere would build – I’m gonna say organically – by itself.
Anyway! That’s the Tempo motion. Let’s take a look at what else is on the Clár.
The biggie for many is the moving of the All-Ireland finals by two weeks into August. A fortnight between the All-Ireland finals would be preferable for many, but the motion already seems doomed because of the law of unintended consequences for club scheduling and the effect on pre-season competitions.
The other big beast of a motion is that spearheaded by former Dublin footballer, and father of Leah and Jack, Dr Noel McCaffrey, through his club, Clontarf.
It proposes that you are only eligible to play senior inter-county championship if you have played eight league or championship games for your club the previous year.
While it has received widespread media attention and the overall sentiment is worthy, it is fraught with a million potholes, mitigating against players with injuries, those that have gone travelling, those in counties with a snappy championship and a million other caveats.
Along with that there are the usual cases of administrator concerns being ironed out and eligibility around the type of competitions players can compete in, with a distinct flavour of the warnings sounded at last year’s Congress in Donegal around the demographics issue.
Elsewhere, the standout banter motion comes from Old Leighlin in Carlow, who want a representative from GAA Rounders on Central Council. Good luck with that.
So, there you have it. We are nothing if not a comprehensive public service, providing you have your subs paid.
Back to the Tempo motion, and it strikes us that one of the more lively evenings in Croke Park in recent years came in July 2024 at half-time of the Cork-Limerick All-Ireland semi-final.
That evening, they were celebrating a centenary since the 1924 Tailteann Games and staged a mile race around cones laid out on Croke Park.
Luke Houser breasts the tape. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
The record had been set at the same venue in 1966 by former GAA journalist Tom O’Riordan, coming from a trade with such a fine stable of pedigree athletes, who set a record time of four minutes, 12.1 seconds.
Even allowing for the advances in running technology and sports science in the interim, O’Riordan’s record was just about broken, by the American Luke Houser from University of Washington with a time of 4.10.39.
The finish of the @themile in Croke Oark today in front of 82,000 fans to celebrate the links between @officialgaa and athletics and more importantly the centenary of the Tailteann Games in Dublin in 1924 - race win by Luke Houser 🇺🇸 ahead of Shane Bracken Swinford & Sean Tobin pic.twitter.com/dRyU3z4PdK
— Pierce O'Callaghan (@Pierceathletics) July 7, 2024
Following him home were Shane Bracken of Swinford AC with a time of 4.10.88 and Seán Tobin of Clonmel AC on 4.11.79.
It was by all conservative estimates, the largest crowd to have watched a mile race – five laps of the pitch – and was well received by the crowd.
There’s nothing quite like a sporting event to add value to a main sporting event.
The Tempo motion will fail to get the required support. It probably won’t get close to a decent share of the vote. It’s a doomed bit of romance and nostalgia by the club.
Because Central Council does not want it. Arguments will be advanced about young players being exposed to scrutiny at such a young age, as if we remember anything about All-Ireland minor finals other than the once in 50 years performances by a David Clifford.
Even if they say no to the minor final being restored to its’ rightful place in the GAA calendar, then perhaps some thought can be given to providing an alternative.
€100 for one single game is a bit steep in all fairness.
There could be an All-Stars game. An interpros final. A kick/puck fada.
The strongest idea out there is for the Tailteann Cup final to be the curtain-raiser for the Sam Maguire final, and the Joe McDonagh to do likewise for the Liam MacCarthy final.
Anything. Just have anything at all. Anything other than the knackered empty blazer cliches and the T-Shirt cannons and the plaid-wearing, beige MOR Irish ‘rawk’ acts.
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Minor matters - Should they return to GAA All-Ireland final day?
HAIL TO THE Tempo Maguires club of Co Fermanagh.
This weekend, they have produced that vanishingly rare things; a motion that will – hopefully – be debated at the annual GAA Congress.
Before we get to the explainer part, we might just stick a pin in a few things. By and large, Congress has earned the reputation of being a rubber-stamping exercise for Central Council’s wishes and desires.
The days of multiple motions popping up from small units within the association are diminishing. Out of 25 motions, only seven come from clubs.
Call it inertia or a lack of awareness. Not every member of the association realises they can have their voice heard in this democratic utopia.
In theory.
They might not make it easy for you. Motions can be ruled out of order. The opportunity for discussion over the Allianz sponsorship will be and has been curtailed to date.
You might be asked to come back the following year, sweet nothings huskily muttered into your ear as you lose heart completely.
Motion 7 on the Clár comes from Tempo Maguires and just to note three things before we get into it; 1. This is my home club. I disgraced the jersey as a player, threw away finals as a coach and embarrassed myself in the committee rooms. 2. I happen to agree with what they are doing here, and 3. That’s ok. It’s cool. It’s not unprofessional. It’s not Parish Pump Politics. Stop being so lame, Poindexter.
Club Chairman, and current Fermanagh CEO, Phil Flanagan will speak in favour of bringing the All-Ireland minor final back to Croke Park, as a curtain-raiser to the senior final.
They tried this a few years ago. Pressure was brought to bear upon the county that they had to withdraw the motion. People approached Fermanagh delegates and instructed/invited them to drop it. Big hitters on the Croke Park political scene also tried some mild coercion, cajoling, but stopped short of Chinese Burns.
Eventually, they dropped it. But now it’s back, bolstered by another couple of years where the presentation of the All-Ireland finals has been more than a bit ‘meh.’
Take last year’s All-Ireland football final.
Music was provided by Fiach Moriarty and John Byrne. Ok. Fine.
There was also a ‘live show’ called ‘The Warm Up’ that featured interviews with the likes of Rory Kavanagh, Marc Ó Sé and Paddy Andrews, pitchside.
Nobody in the stadium paid the slightest bit of attention. It’s not like the lads had been under-exposed throughout the season and by then, all would have been on dozens of Podcasts, their juiciest opinions clipped and teased and socially media-ed to generate the clicks.
What could they say at that point anyway?
The unsatisfactory nature of the All-Ireland finals is compounded by the way the jubilee teams are presented.
Before the minor match was scrapped, they were unveiled between the two games. Usually, a decent crowd would be in their seats by half-time of the minor match anyway and the atmosphere would build – I’m gonna say organically – by itself.
Anyway! That’s the Tempo motion. Let’s take a look at what else is on the Clár.
The biggie for many is the moving of the All-Ireland finals by two weeks into August. A fortnight between the All-Ireland finals would be preferable for many, but the motion already seems doomed because of the law of unintended consequences for club scheduling and the effect on pre-season competitions.
The other big beast of a motion is that spearheaded by former Dublin footballer, and father of Leah and Jack, Dr Noel McCaffrey, through his club, Clontarf.
It proposes that you are only eligible to play senior inter-county championship if you have played eight league or championship games for your club the previous year.
While it has received widespread media attention and the overall sentiment is worthy, it is fraught with a million potholes, mitigating against players with injuries, those that have gone travelling, those in counties with a snappy championship and a million other caveats.
Along with that there are the usual cases of administrator concerns being ironed out and eligibility around the type of competitions players can compete in, with a distinct flavour of the warnings sounded at last year’s Congress in Donegal around the demographics issue.
Elsewhere, the standout banter motion comes from Old Leighlin in Carlow, who want a representative from GAA Rounders on Central Council. Good luck with that.
So, there you have it. We are nothing if not a comprehensive public service, providing you have your subs paid.
Back to the Tempo motion, and it strikes us that one of the more lively evenings in Croke Park in recent years came in July 2024 at half-time of the Cork-Limerick All-Ireland semi-final.
That evening, they were celebrating a centenary since the 1924 Tailteann Games and staged a mile race around cones laid out on Croke Park.
The record had been set at the same venue in 1966 by former GAA journalist Tom O’Riordan, coming from a trade with such a fine stable of pedigree athletes, who set a record time of four minutes, 12.1 seconds.
Even allowing for the advances in running technology and sports science in the interim, O’Riordan’s record was just about broken, by the American Luke Houser from University of Washington with a time of 4.10.39.
Following him home were Shane Bracken of Swinford AC with a time of 4.10.88 and Seán Tobin of Clonmel AC on 4.11.79.
It was by all conservative estimates, the largest crowd to have watched a mile race – five laps of the pitch – and was well received by the crowd.
There’s nothing quite like a sporting event to add value to a main sporting event.
The Tempo motion will fail to get the required support. It probably won’t get close to a decent share of the vote. It’s a doomed bit of romance and nostalgia by the club.
Because Central Council does not want it. Arguments will be advanced about young players being exposed to scrutiny at such a young age, as if we remember anything about All-Ireland minor finals other than the once in 50 years performances by a David Clifford.
Even if they say no to the minor final being restored to its’ rightful place in the GAA calendar, then perhaps some thought can be given to providing an alternative.
€100 for one single game is a bit steep in all fairness.
There could be an All-Stars game. An interpros final. A kick/puck fada.
The strongest idea out there is for the Tailteann Cup final to be the curtain-raiser for the Sam Maguire final, and the Joe McDonagh to do likewise for the Liam MacCarthy final.
Anything. Just have anything at all. Anything other than the knackered empty blazer cliches and the T-Shirt cannons and the plaid-wearing, beige MOR Irish ‘rawk’ acts.
Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
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2026 Congress Congress GAA going through the motions