WhAt thEY SAY

Marc Ó Sé (Former kerry footballer, Irish Mail on Sunday columnist)

The time has come for change. I don’t think it is even remotely credible to suggest that what we have is fit for purpose because this is not serving players, spectators or the game.

I absolutely back Proposal B as I believe it will serve teams on every level and that is evident given support among the main stakeholders – players and managers – is across the board.

It will mean more high-end games in peak summer and it will give lower division teams attainable goals of promotion and far more room for development.

billy Lee (Limerick manager)

I support Proposal B, league Championship with a standalone provincial competition. It will, in effect, give us five games in Munster, seven games in the league Championship and at least one knockout game in either the Sam Maguire or Tailteann Cup.

That would be a guaranteed 13 games, while in the past the most we have ever had was 12 games in a season and, to do that, we had to reach a McGrath Cup final, whereas the level of games under this proposal would be a lot higher.

If there is not change to what we have, it is going to make it very difficult for some counties to survive.

Eoin Cleary (Clare, All-Star nominee)

I will never forget 2015. We prepared all year and ended up playing just three Championship games. You end up feeling frustrated and disappointed.

The one thing players want is more games and more games that matter. I know that our entire panel are in favour of Proposal B but that was also reflected in the votes conducted over WhatsApp across county panels.

I am not saying that the proposal is perfect and, personally, I think the league finals should be retained for the top two teams in each division because it is a huge thing for players, particularly in the lower-tier counties, to play in Croke Park for a national cup.

Michael Duignan (Offaly chairman, Irish Mail On Sunday columnist)

You have to listen to the players. We discussed it in Offaly, across our management committee and delegates and, most importantly, with our players.

Overall, we feel that Proposal B can be revolutionary. It’s very exciting. It gives us the opportunity to promote all of these new Championship matches in provincial towns, maybe look at Friday night matches and Saturday evening matches, which can bring great life to local communities.

It’s just a pity that it’s come down to the last week or two for a bit of engagement.

The funding from Leinster Council is an issue for counties – it’s important that they get some surety in terms of that.

The fear in provincial councils is that funding will be affected, so that’s why Croke Park have now scheduled a ‘Financial Impact Assessment’ briefing for tomorrow night.

Remember, too, that’s it’s simply for a trial period. So why not give players and managers what they want? In general, there seems to be that mood for change out there for Proposal B rather than Proposal A, so it’s likely to boil down to the former or revert to the status quo.

I think it would be a backward step to stay as we are.

John Prenty (Connacht Council secretary)

I’m a member of the task force that brought forward the proposals. We decided on day one when we put them together that we would put them up for the clubs and county boards to discuss, that we wouldn’t come down on one over the other. And I don’t intend to do that now.

Lots of clubs are only discussing them right now and mandating their delegates.

Probably the weakness of the whole thing is that Covid has taken over from when we put the proposals together. I would have assumed that there would have been a major financial discussion at national, provincial and county level around the various options that are there.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been allowed to take place. I think that will have an impact on everything on the table.