ULSTER Schools have made an impassioned plea to their members that they impress upon county committees the “inescapably adverse effect” that motions to this weekend’s Congress will have on the GAA at schools’ level if passed.
Saturday’s meeting at Croke Park will see delegates vote on a proposal that would impose a mandatory finishing date on the All-Ireland post-primary A and B championships of the fifth Sunday of the year.
The move would bring the All-Ireland finals forward by nine weeks and would force the provincial finals into a window either the first week of the new year, or pre-Christmas.
That’s something Ulster Schools fear will “open the window to other codes”.
That would also end a long-standing tradition of the MacRory Cup being played on St Patrick’s Day.
BBC NI have broadcast the game each year as part of a double-header with the Schools Rugby final.
In a letter to its members, Ulster Schools have claimed that the move is being made to “create an earlier space for the provincial and All-Ireland u20 competition, and as a cost cutting exercise for counties, but at what price?”
“The competitions for most schools would be over in a few weeks, and the vast majority of schools would be eliminated by early December, thereby creating 6 empty months and an open door which can be exploited by other codes,” said the letter.
“Schools are, above all, educational institutions, and the months of December and January are particularly busy months in schools (e.g. internal exams etc); the compressing of the senior football competitions into a condensed timeframe at such a busy time of the year will have an inescapably adverse effect on Gaelic Games activity and their status in schools.”
The provincial and All-Ireland u20 football championship has been moved this year into a window between mid-February and early-April, which has brought it into direct conflict with school games.
The GAA had imposed a rule in November that “players involved in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ post-primary football championships are ineligible to play for their county team until such time as their school has been eliminated from its own championship”.
However, following an original representation from Fermanagh claiming that they could not field an U20 team without their 13 school-tied players, the GAA granted an exemption and permitted other counties to apply for the same, which many duly did.
That softening of the rule by the GAA angered the provincial schools’ body, who were subsequently forced to alter their own fixture list in order to accommodate players.
Motion 41 at Congress will also attempt to stop all competitions beyond the A and B grades from going into All-Ireland series’, with all other championships to be ended after the provincial finals.
“This excludes C and D schools whose championships currently progress to All Ireland level,” say Ulster Schools.
“The majority of schools, many of them small, in each province currently compete at C and D levels, so most of the players actually play at C and D levels.
“The achievement of reaching and playing at All Ireland level is a huge attraction for such schools.
“C and D competitions are played in the same timeframe as the A and B levels, so their inclusion would make no difference in scheduling terms; it would, however, make a significant difference to the health and wellbeing of Gaelic Games in their own catchment areas.
“At the core of CLG’s manifesto is the principle that “we all belong in this place” but the changes proposed in this motion pose a fundamental question about the status and standing of schools.
“Just where do they stand in the tapestry of GAA activity?
“Where is there the recognition and acknowledgement of the contribution of schools to the recruitment, development, and retention of players and others who will serve CLG into the future?
“What are schools to conclude about their status and standing in the light of this motion?”
The provincial schools’ body has urged that “our county board delegates at Congress… speak against this motion and vote against it”.
