THE LIST OF motions to be debated at this year’s GAA Congress have been released.

Delegates at the Congress, which takes place in Derry on March 22nd and 23rd, will deal with a wide range of issues.

There are 73 motions in all on the agenda with some of them particularly eye-catching.

Using the score detection system Hawkeye, making GAA stadia available for the Rugby World Cup and the introduction of the mark are some of the proposals that are on the table.

Here we examine the key and interesting motions to keep an eye on.

• Motion 1 – There is a detailed proposal to reduce the number of teams in the Liam McCarthy Cup from 15 to 13 over a two-year period, starting in 2014. The five ‘developing’ counties (Antrim, Carlow, Westmeath, Laois and London) must prove they are good enough to participate in the new streamlined competition from 2016 onwards.
  There will be no more automatic promotion or relegation with the principle of ‘winning your way up’ being adopted. Essentially the Christy Ring Cup winners will have to defeat the lowest-placed team in the Liam McCarthy Cup. Similar changes will be brought in for the Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher Cups.
• Motion 3 – Central Council is seeking to have the power to authorise the use of Croke Park and other stadia for games in the 2023 or 2027 Rugby World Cup’s, if either of these tournaments are staged in Ireland.
• Motion 12 – The new ‘black card’ rule which is part of the GAA’s efforts to clamp down on cynical play has been well-documented. If a player is issued with three black cards he is subsequently banned for his side’s next game but previous plans to make an All-Ireland final exempt from that ruling, have now been shelved.
• Motion 17 – Players holding onto the ball after committing a foul, rather than handing it back to their opponent to take the free that has been awarded, is one of the most frustrating parts of Gaelic football. There are now plans to see the free moved 30m upfield to the the opponents 13m line if that happens.
• Motion 20 – The virtues of the mark have been widely debated in Gaelic football. It could now become a reality if this motion is passed with a mark to be awarded if the ball is caught cleanly by a player from a kickout on or past the 45m line.

The mark could reward high fielders like Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea.
Pic: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

• Motion 24 – Ladies football is already well accustomed to the use of a hooter being used to signal the end of a game. Could the men’s equivalent be about to follow suit? This motion looks to introduce a public time clock in Croke Park and all grounds used for provincial and All-Ireland championship games. The clock will be stopped during the game for certain stoppages in play.
• Motion 25 – Adult club football games could become 70 minute affairs (as opposed to the current duration of 60 minutes) like adult inter-county games.
• Motion 26 – Match bans have been introduced at inter-county senior level and if this motion is passed, it would see suspensions carry over to the following year if that is when the teams next game occurs.
• Motion 27 – Sponsors emblazoned on jerseys are now a common sight and this motion could pave the way for additional branding on other areas of inter-county jerseys to be permitted.
• Motion 49 – Fed up with counties delaying the announcement of teams on the week of championship games? In future teams are to be provided to the Director-General for issue to the media by 12 noon four days prior to the game. Counties that fail to do will be fined €500 but it’s a moot point as to whether the passing of this motion would halt the practice of dummy teams being named.
• Motion 52 – The long-awaited debut of Hawkeye in the GAA could be imminent. Delegates will vote to rubberstamp the introduction of the score detection system but it will only be in operation in Croke Park.
• Motion 54 – This motion proposes that the Anti-Sectarian/Anti-Racist rule will now read as follows:
  “The Association is Anti-Sectarian and Anti-Racist and committed to the principles of inclusion and diversity at all levels. Any conduct by deed, word or gesture of sectarian or racist nature or which is contrary to the principles of inclusion and diversity against a player, official, spectator or anyone else, in the course of activities organised by the Association, shall be deemed to have discredited the Association.”
• Motion 60 – Tipperary club Loughmore-Castleiney are seeking for hurlers, in all grades, to remove their helmets during the playing of the National Anthem.

Could the Cork hurlers have to start removing their helmets for the National Anthem?
Pic: INPHO/Cathal Noonan

• Motion 66 – Waterford club Clashmore-Kinsalebeg want players not to be deemed ineligible for championship action in  a club grade if they feature as a substitute in one group game of a championship in a higher grade which is organised on a league basis.
• Motion 68 – Wicklow club Bray Emmett’s want senior inter-county players to be unavailable for club championship games for a maximum of 20 days before All-Ireland finals and a maximum of 7 days for all other championship games at senior level and all championship games at minor and U21 level.
• Motions 69 and 70 – Wexford’s St Anne’s are seeking to ensure that All-Ireland football champions are not allowed feature in round 1 of the qualifier series for the following three years if they fail to reach the provincial semi-final stages in any of those seasons. The same scenario will apply to the All-Ireland champions in phase 1 of the hurling qualifier series. Essentially it seeks to remove the second chance available for All-Ireland champions that bow out of their provincial championships at an early stage.
• Motion 71 – Cork clubs Nemo Rangers and St Nicholas both want the scheduling of the All-Ireland finals to be changed with the football decider to be fixed for the second Sunday in September with the hurling final played two weeks previous. It is hoped this change will alleviate fixture congestion at club level.

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