Congress decision set to lead to senior club change
Change will be coming to the Tipperary senior club hurling championship after a motion passed at GAA Congress last weekend to restrict the number of teams in adult county club championships to sixteen.
By Shane Brophy
Last Saturday’s vote, carried by 66%, will see all adult grades higher than junior restricted to a maximum of sixteen teams, and with the current Tipperary senior hurling championship a 32-team competition with the Dan Breen and O Riain Cup teams linked through the divisional championships, it means something will have to change.
However, it will not be until 2023 when the new ruling comes into force but county board officers, divisional boards and clubs will have to get their thinking caps on what the change made at Congress means for them.
With 16 teams each in both the Dan Breen and O Riain Championships at senior hurling level, Tipperary have much of the groundwork done in recent years in terms of streamlining adult competitions (along with senior football and intermediate hurling & football), however they will have to decide what to do with the divisional link to ensure they are adhering to the new rule.
It could be scrapped altogether with the North, Mid, South & West senior championships played separately, possibly without county players, which many fear will lead to the downgrading of once prestigious competitions with great tradition.
However, according to County Chairperson Joe Kennedy, there is a way of maintaining the link to the county championships, if time allows.
“The very least we have to do is separate the Dan Breen teams from the O Riain teams in the divisions,” he suggested.
In the case of the North division for example where there are currently 14 teams classed as senior, it would mean the current six Dan Breen Cup teams (Kiladangan, Nenagh Eire Og, Kilruane MacDonaghs, Borris-Ileigh, Roscrea and Toomevara) only would be able to play for the Frank McGrath Cup.
It would then leave the eight O Riain Cup teams (Ballina, Burgess, Kiladangan, Lorrha, Newport, Portroe, Silvermines, Templederry Kenyons) to play for a separate new divisional championship, with the winners progressing to the knockout stages of the O Riain Cup, if they have not already qualified from the group stages.
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