Your Christmas dinner’

group is that they don’t have a choice, the Senior hurling and football managers stay away from fixtures for the month pf April and players have to stay and play for their clubs. Management need to enforce that,’ he said.

‘We think you got the under-20 decisions wrong in how you let players from club to club and that was borne out by the hammerings dished out,’ he added.

The delegate then highlighted the fact that there were championship finals not played in Aughrim but that it was a ‘great start’ and that all key games should be played in Aughrim.

He also added that his group believed that the CCC gives very little respect to clubs who provide players for the county teams.

‘What we’re saying is that you’re fixing important league matches when, in our group, there were five, seven, eight, nine and 10 county players away when important league matches were fixed. That’s only sending signals back to players and clubs not to play with the county and stay with your clubs,’ he added.

Paul Wilson said that in terms of the county players, that the grade in Wicklow is separate in league and championship and that it was for a reason.

‘There’s going to come a time where it’s looking like your county players won’t be around for league, and that’s the way it is.

‘If you look at the pressures on the schedule now, and be realistic about it, it’s getting to that stage.

‘Last year I said to clubs that you would have your players for maybe a maximum of four games and it’s the luck of the draw how that comes out when I put the fixtures into Servasport. It generates fixtures automatically.’

‘Two things,’ replied the spokesperson for the group, Pat Doyle, from Rathnew.

‘If that’s the rule then we’ll have to live by it, but it’s not the rule currently.

‘The first paragraph of our charter says, ‘fair play’, so if you fix an important league match with one club missing 10 players, as long as you want to stay and argue this out then that’s fair enough,’ he added.

‘It’s a different competition, it’s a league competition,’ said Wilson.

‘Well then just toss, don’t bother playing the matches. Have a meeting somewhere and toss and the winner takes the points. It’s the same difference,’ he concluded.

Following the submissions from the groups, Paul Wilson thanked all delegates for their time and effort.

He appealed to them to organise themselves and to take a careful look at when clubs need weekends off and get those requests in early so that allowances can be made where possible.