Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GROUND BREAKING GAA ready to work with counties to prepare for revamped Championship
PARAIC DUFFY says the GAA will work with Waterford to ensure they host major Championship games for the first time in more than two decades next year.
With a revamped Championship structure on the way in hurling after Saturday’s Special Congress, every county in the 10-team top tier is guaranteed two home games though Waterford’s Walsh Park may struggle to meet health and safety as well as capacity requirements.
It has been suggested that Nowlan Park in Kilkenny could be their de facto home ground though Duffy expects that Waterford will be driven by the incentive of hosting a major Championship fixture for the first time since 1996.
The GAA director general said: “I think one of the great things about this is they ’ ll want to host home games so that will put a little bit of pressure on them.
“Cusack Park [in
Ennis] is well up to speed now. There is work to be done on Waterford, we know that, Waterford know that and I’m sure this will give an impetus to having the necessary work done.
“They ’re the only one of the counties to have an issue on that and we’ll work with them.”
Both the football and hurling Championships will have a round robin phase at different stages of the summer now which may cause headaches for club fixture-makers, particularly in dual counties.
“I don’t think so,” Duffy insisted. “From May 1 until the first teams are out of the Championship, how many club Championship games are actually played? Very few.
“Now, th ey can star t th eir Championship if they want to [in April], they’ ll have a four or five week gap and they’ll be finished an awful lot earlier. I don’t see how that’s a problem - I see that as a positive opportunity. I think counties will embrace that.”
The draws for the 2018 Championships are due to take place on October 19 though there is essentially no need for one in hurling now given that the knockout element of the provincial Championships was removed on Saturday.
Following that, Duffy explained that the GAA will present its master fixtures plan for 2018 to Central Council on November 25, with the All-ireland finals to be brought for ward from their traditional September time slots.
One of the big winners from Special Congress were Galway, who will now have home Leinster Championship games for the first time while their under-21 team also moves to the eastern province and their minor team enter a round robin against the beaten Leinster and Munster finalists from 2018.
“A very positive part of the whole package is Galway,” said GAA president Aogan O Fearghail (left).
“If there is such a place as limbo, they were in it and now this has brought a lot of certainty.”
Ulster counties will now also take part in the Leinster Championship at minor and under-21 level.
If there was such a place as limbo, Galway were in it and now this has brought a lot of certainty..