Special Congress predictably ended in tiers on Saturday and reinforced the sense of detachment that exists within in the GAA in the process.
In the build-up to the gathering at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, it was rather difficult to find people right across the GAA who were supportive of the two tier proposal that was on the table.
Even those who very much favoured a tiered system of some sort were strongly opposed to this one, which proposed that Division Three/Four counties that don’t reach a provincial final enter a separate competition rather than the qualifiers.
But Congress delegates, or most of them at least, appear to operate in a different vacuum and so 112 of the 150 present voted in favour of Central Council’s motion and it was comfortably passed.
The GAA hierarchy over the years has tended to dismiss suggestions that there is a disconnection with the grassroots but outcomes like Saturday’s only fuel that perception, or reality, all the more. The chasm manifests itself more on the floor of Congress than anywhere else.
GAA director general Tom Ryan sat on the top table but down on the floor his fellow Carlow man Sean Campion took a polar opposite view to the tier two proposal, one of several delegates that spoke strongly against it, Ciaran McCavana (Antrim), Jack Devaney (Down) and Tom Boyle (Fermanagh) among the others.
Campion noted the uptake in their Cul Camps after Carlow’s Championship run two years ago and questioned their ability to attract sponsorship if operating in a second tier.
He also referenced the poor promotion of the Joe McDonagh Cup in hurling, which Carlow participate.
He said: “The (Joe McDonagh Cup) All Star team was a botch job with counties being asked to nominate players. Imagine Tipperary or Kilkenny or Galway being asked to nominate players for their All Star team?
“There was to be a monetary offer for a training camp. It didn’t happen. What was offered was poor and an insult to two teams and an insult to the name of Joe McDonagh.”
Campion’s misgivings were put to Ryan afterwards.
He said: “I can remember the last Tommy Murphy Cup and this is an opportunity now to do better and to learn from that.
“But I think it is good thing too to have a debate and to have plenty of diverse and differing opinion on it.
“Fair play to Sean. He did exactly what we asked of him. He went back to the county and talked to the clubs to see what the sentiment was.”
He added: “We all agreed that as an association this time last year or even farther back that football needed some remedial attention and needed to be freshened up a bit.
“Maybe, having looked at how great it was over the course of the last summer, these issues were less pressing than we might have thought but just as it would have been a mistake to write off football based on one bad year, it would equally be a mistake to say that we don’t need to freshen it up based on one really good year.
“On balance it’s not a bad thing to be looking at ways you can improve things incrementally and I think the good thing about what we did today was that there was nothing revolutionary in it.”
Just yet another step down a dangerous path for the GAA.
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