All eyes are on the General Election, but there is another important event taking place this weekend - the GAA Annual Congress.
Here’s everything you need to know about the annual gathering.
When and where is it on?
This year’s annual congress takes place in Carlow. Delegates will meet at the Mount Wolseley Hotel on Friday February 26 and Saturday February 27 to debate the 65 motions before it.
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[/raw]Getting set @MountWolseley for @officialgaa Congress 2016 @Tickets_ie @Netwatchsystem #gaa 🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳 pic.twitter.com/GnPhEBXpV8
— Carlow GAA (@Carlow_GAA) February 25, 2016
Who will be in attendance?
Attending will be the outgoing Council, past presidents, and delegates from the counties.
County representation is on the basis of one delegate from each ten affiliated clubs, but the minimum representation from such counties to be four delegates. Counties with fewer than five affiliations are allowed two representatives. The maximum representation for any one county shall be ten delegates.
Provincial Secretaries and Chairpersons of National Committees are entitled to attend and speak, but do not have voting rights.
Where do the motions come from?
The motions come from a number of different sources.
Central Council submit the majority - this year, for example, motions four to 11 are submitted from the Council on the back of a number of sub-committee reports published in recent years.
Next up is the Rules Advisory Committee, who this year submitted motions 12 to 40. Motions 41 and 42 have been submitted from the Standing Committee on the Playing Rules.
Finally, there will be motions from county boards and provinces. This year motions 43 to 65 have come from there.
What are the most eye-catching motions?
Motion Two This motion, if passed, paves the way for an All-Ireland 'B' Championship in football to be introduced. The 'B' Championship would take place after the completion of the provincial championships, which would take place as normal.
The 'B' tournament would comprise of the eight teams that would make up Division IV of the following year's league.
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[/raw]The GPA are opposed to the proposed 'B' Championship. Get all the details here: https://t.co/EXPM9KuxNV #Players pic.twitter.com/4ymR6lD0tM
— GPA (@gaelicplayers) February 24, 2016
Hugely unpopular, even Director General Paraic Duffy admitted last night he does not expect it to pass.
Motion Five Proposes the abolition of the U21 grade at inter-county football level, to be replaced with an U20 grade, with players eligible to be aged between 18 and 20.
The U21 grade has been a popular and beloved competition through the years, but worries about young players suffering burn-out have prompted the move. It remains to be seen if it will pass.
Motion Seven This proposes that All-Ireland football finals be played on the first Sunday in September, with the hurling final to be played two weeks prior.
Another motion that would see a huge break with GAA tradition, leading to the All-Ireland SHC final being played in August and the battle for Sam decided at the start of September. The reasoning is to allow more time for club competitions - will the GAA faithful prioritise club players ahead of the All-Ireland traditions?
Motion Eight Another big GAA tradition is replays. This motion seeks to introduce extra-time for all games, except for All-Ireland and provincial finals.
There have been some memorable replays in recent years, including three All-Ireland hurling finals in a row. This move is again rooted in an attempt to free up time for club competitions during the summer, but will the GAA give up their beloved replays?
You can download the full list of motions from GAA.ie.
Any other likely talking points?
Yes, Motion 43 - This motion proposes that all televised inter-county championship games be available free to air TV channels.
Dublin put this forward and it has also received the support of Kerry, with County chairman Patrick O’Sullivan confirming they will back the motion at the weekend.
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[/raw]Dublin pledge to amend ‘badly written’ TV rights motion https://t.co/ymxPydSJva pic.twitter.com/KtKYjZgU2z
— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) February 25, 2016
In recent days Dublin have acknowledged the motion was badly worded, and should have specified that they meant in Ireland only.
The GAA’s deal with Sky, which meant some games were only available as part of the broadcaster's paid package, has been unpopular in many quarters - it will be interesting to see how much support it gets.
