Unpublished report proposed abolition of provincial championships – Irish Examiner

An unpublished GAA-commissioned report aimed at outlining the organisations future towards its 150th anniversary in 2034 proposed the removal of the provincial championships.

Having been done at the behest of former GAA president Aogn Farrell, the GAA Towards 2034 committee produced the wide-ranging document in January of last year. However, it never saw the light of day.

Seen by the Irish Examiner, the report is a fascinating piece of work completed by a committee chaired by former general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation John Carr and involving individuals such as current playing rules group chair David Hassan and Connacht secretary John Prenty, who recently sat on the fixtures review taskforce.

However, that fixtures review body did not take into consideration the 2034 document, which as well as calling for the replacement of the provincial championships with a tiered championship also proposed the club and county seasons be separated entirely.

As well as calling for an overhaul of the GAAs provincial and national administrative structure and the revolutionary idea of replacing the current mileage expenses with an allowance structure for inter-county players and managers only, the 2034 committee described the provincial championships as unfair and unsustainable.

The report read: While the committee recognised the allegiance that county boards have towards the provincial championships, it deems the current imbalance structure to be unfair and unsustainable on players, coaches, and officials in many counties.

Turning a blind eye to this issue is not an option if the GAA is to thrive and prosper in the future.

"The committee is of the view that the structure imbalances within the inter-county game must be addressed by the Association and suggests that provincial championships be replaced by inter-county championship competition, which will be tiered, with an overarching committee managing all national fixtures across the Gaelic games family.

The report explained the provincial championships were no longer viable considering the growing polarisation of counties in a myriad of areas. The GAA inter-county championships are based on county structures whose boundaries do not change, thus creating major disparities between counties in terms of demographics, population distribution, fundraising capacity, and geographical factors.

"For example, Connacht consists of five counties, Munster six, Ulster nine and Leinster 12.

A major demographic disparity exists between County Dublin with a population of approximately 1.3 million and less than 33,000 living in County Leitrim and 40,000 in Longford. Ten other counties have populations of less than 100,000 people (2016 Census).

In addition, the larger, more successful counties have been able to attract significant sums of money through sponsorship whereas the less populated areas are struggling to make ends meet.

It is no wonder a gulf exists between competitive andnon-competitive county teams with fewer county teams being able to realistically compete in order to win championship titles. In some provinces, the gap in standards between county teams has so widened that only two or three teams have any chance of being successful in provincial championships (The weakness of formerly strong counties is an issue that requires further consideration and is beyond the scope of this committee).

The current imbalance between counties, both nationally and within provinces, is already having a detrimental effect on inter-county championship competitions in terms of aspirations and the morale of officials, mentors, and players.

"It could be argued that the provincial, as presently constituted, is an impediment towards progress and, in effect, could be counter-productive to the development of Gaelic games in less competitive counties.

There have already been changes made to the provincial structure especially in hurling with positive effects on the game itself. Overseas structures have also been devised to enable teams from abroad to play in provincial championships.

The fixtures review taskforce ruled out removing the provincial championships on the basis that there will still enough support for the competitions. They also rejected the idea of making a clear distinction between the club and county seasons for a number of reasons including separating players entirely from their clubs for over half the year would not be desirable.

However, the 2034 body backed the split season idea on the basis of championship only.

The report read: In order to enhance the playing experiences of club players, it is imperative the Association creates separate and distinct playing seasons for inter-county and club championships in order to provide a regular and meaningful schedule of games for all players and, in turn, recognises the important ongoing work taking place in this regard at the time of writing (November 2017).

The report added: The overlap of inter-county and club fixtures makes it impossible to have proper club and inter-county seasons. One outcome is that the majority of club games are fixed in the early or late months of the year where weather conditions are more likely to be adverse, leading to match cancellations, damage to pitches through overuse and increased difficulty attracting spectators and indeed, for that matter, players.

The inescapable conclusion is that there is a pressing need to restore equilibrium between the club and inter-county games.

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Unpublished report proposed abolition of provincial championships - Irish Examiner