PLANS TO STAGE a National League final in New York will be decided upon before the 2014 season begins.
But GAA President Liam O’Neill insists that the Association is focused on developing facilities and juvenile structures as a more pressing priority in the Big Apple.
The proposal to move a showpiece league final Stateside as part of New York’s centenary celebrations was among the issues discussed at a national committee meeting following O’Neill’s return from the recent All-Star trip.
“They asked for the GAA Congress [to be held in New York] but that was never gonna happen. We just could not bring the congress to New York,” O’Neill said yesterday.
But we’re a games organisation. We want to promote our games in New York and if it’s possible to bring a game where a trophy is presented to New York, I think that would be of huge benefit for the competition here but also of huge benefit for the game on the North American continent.
We’d love to get that on TV there and we’d love to start in our next round of international negotiations to focus on ways that we can get our games out to the wider world.
He added: “If we decide to hold the league final in New York we will have that decision made and firmly in stone before that league starts so everyone knows what they’re facing into.”
O’Neill also revealed that organisers hope to finalise the venues for the 2013 National League programme “as soon as possible.”
The football campaign opens with a Division 1 showdown between Dublin and Cork on 2 February, while the hurling throws in three weeks later when the Rebels host Tipperary on 23 February.
Discussions are still taking place regarding which games will be held in Croke Park, O’Neill said, and there is a possibility that Kildare will also line out for some of their games in Headquarters.
“The programme is almost finished but they just have decide on what games are being played out here.
“It’s just seeing can we maximise the use of Croke Park to showcase our games to the benefit of the Dublin supporters and possibly the Kildare supporters and those who will be coming to play both counties.”
