Outrageous demands on lesser lights

WE SUSPECT that Central Council’s review of the Championship, which is set to take place because of Donegal’s intervention this summer, will extend beyond a tweaking of Dublin’s home venues in the Super 8s.

While a major review of the Championship structure in both hurling and football will take place at the end of 2020, there are a few minor tweaks that can take place without the need to go through Congress.

At the top of that list is scheduling in the hurling Championship, with the need for an extra ‘gap week’ in the provincial Championships needed.

However that is complex – one extra gap week will not be enough to ensure everyone is treated equally – but the All-Ireland series also needs more time to breathe.

Asking Carlow and Westmeath, six days after the respective joy and agony that comes with winning and losing a national final in Croke Park, to tog out in a preliminary All-Ireland quarter-final yesterday is grossly unfair.

The time has to be found to give the Joe McDonagh Cup teams a two-week window to prepare for what is, after all, the prize yielded by a hard year’s work.

Even worse, with no such time pressures in place, asking Kildare within a week of winning the Christy Ring to tog out in last weekend’s McDonagh Cup promotion/ relegation play-off against Antrim – with a predictable result – was simply outrageous.

Respect is a word easily spoken, but it seems to be a real challenge to show it to those who need and deserve it the most.