THE GAA HAS confirmed the formation of the Fixtures Calendar Review Task Force, which it hopes will deliver a report of recommendations by November with the view voting in those changes at Congress 2020.
The 11-man task force set-up by Association president John Horan will be chaired by GAA management committee member Eddie O’Sullivan and includes representatives from both the CPA and GPA.
The group will meet for the first time on Thursday week, according to Horan.
Galway native Michael Higgins will represent the club players’ body, while former Down footballer Ronan Sheehan will do likewise for the GPA.
Dublin CEO John Costello and recently appointed Cork CEO Kevin O’Donovan are also part of the committee, in addition to the Meath minor football manager, the chairs of the post primary and higher education committees and member of two provincial councils.
The full list of committee members is:
- Eddie O’Sullivan (Chair) Member of An Coiste Bainistíochta, former club chair St Sylvester’s GAA, Dublin
- Micheal Martin (Wexford) Chair GAA National Fixtures Analysts Committee
- Kevin O’Donovan (Cork), CEO Cork GAA
- Stephen Barker (Derry), Ulster GAA CCC
- John Costello (Dublin), CEO Dublin GAA
- John Prenty (Mayo), Secretary Connacht Council GAA
- Michael Higgins (Galway) CPA representative
- Ronan Sheehan (Down) GPA representative
- Michael Hyland (Galway) Chair GAA Higher Education Committee
- Seamus Woods (Down) Chair GAA Post Primary Schools’ Committee
- Conor O’Donoghue (Meath) minor football manager
“Next Saturday morning, the National Fixture Analysts Committee are having a forum, so I’ll be hoping all the members of the committee will be able to attend that,” said Horan on RTE Radio 1 this morning.
“Then the following Thursday night will be the first meeting of this group to get the work underway.
“As we said all along, it will be late October, early November. It is very complex and I think we all said that if there was a silver bullet in existence, this would have been solved a long time ago.”
GAA president John Horan says any change to Championship structure must not impact on club fixtures, while Oisin McCoville says it's time for change #rtegaa pic.twitter.com/QBwx2SbbRu
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) June 10, 2019
He also confirmed that any two-tier structure being introduced to the All-Ireland SFC will not have any impact on club fixtures.
“We’re looking at two options at the moment, but key to it all is that the impact of bringing in a two-tier championship will be that it has no major effect on the playing of club games,” said the president.
“Club games are key to it all and they have been under pressure, so if they’re going to make any change to regard a two-tier championship, most definitely whatever structure we bring in will have to make sure the club games are not going to be impacted upon.”
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