Tipperary football manager David Power has echoed Fermanagh boss Ryan McMenamin’s assertion that the Tier 2 championship was badly thought out.

"In ancient Ireland, our athletic and sporting prowess was celebrated every summer by the staging of the Tailteann Games, a festival that some scholars date as far back as 1600BC."

As it was envisaged with full Sam Maguire Cup membership on the line, Divisions 2 and 3 are for the most part tight as a drum. Where survival in Division 2 and success in Division 3 are the only things that matter, we assess the 16 counties at the halfway point of the campaign.

Two rounds into the Allianz Football League, it already appears that points might not be sufficient to decide which teams from Divisions 2 and 3 are consigned to the second-tier championship this summer.

As Kerry showed off the Sam Maguire Cup on an open deck bus in Tralee in late September 1997, Pádraic Joyce watched the celebrations from his apartment.

Dublin’s six-time All-Ireland SFC winning manager Jim Gavin is planning to be in charge for an eighth season in 2020.

Cork footballer Paul Kerrigan does not agree with the new Tier 2 championship being rushed into existence, while also lamenting the failure of top-brass to address the disproportionate weight attached to the provincial system.

I was very pleased with the outcome of the GAA Special Congress in the splendid facilities at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

At this stage, it’s well known that the GAA are intent on changing the scheduling of the Super 8 in 2020.

75.5% of delegates backed the Central Council motion

The 2020 Munster senior football championship draw, which pits Cork against Kerry in a semi-final, could militate against the proposed second-tier championship at today’s Special Congress in Páírc Uí Chaoimh.

Former Louth manager Eamonn McEneaney has called on counties to add “realism” to the All-Ireland SFC and back the Tier 2 proposal.

Carlow, Laois, and Longford will vote against the proposed second-tier football championship at Special Congress this Saturday.

Had Cork and Tipperary known there was more than relegation to Division 3 at stake this past spring, would they have acted differently?

Offaly are the second Division 3 county to confirm they will vote against the proposed second-tier football championship at Special Congress on October 19.

Leitrim, Limerick, Sligo, Waterford, and Wicklow will support the creation of a second-tier football championship at Special Congress on October 19.

Cork chairperson Tracey Kennedy says the county won’t be influenced by yesterday’s Munster SFC draw in how they vote on the second tier championship in Páírc Uí Chaoimh next week.

219 days before it begins, the 2020 Munster senior football championship draw, along with Connacht’s, was to take place on RTÉ Radio this morning.

Any week in Kerry is a football week, but when the Sam Maguire Cup is up for grabs, that applies to every second of every day.

Paul Keane It’s hardly news to him but Graham Canty puffs his cheeks out all the same as he considers Dublin’s Championship record since 2010.

Here’s John Fogarty’s low-down on the final eight for the Sam Maguire Cup.

The two teams promoted from Division 3 of the Allianz League next year may yet earn a reprieve from the proposed second-tier championship.

Tomorrow, Central Council will choose which form of the old Tommy Murphy Cup they back as a motion to Special Congress later this year on a revamped football championship.

The Leinster Council is confident the attendance at Sunday’s provincial hurling final will surpass the crowd of 47,000 which endured last Sunday’s one-sided Leinster football decider.

Some years some titles should be valued that bit more than usual, having been that bit harder earned.

John Fogarty speaks to former RTÉ head of sport and managing director Glen Killane about the future of Gaelic games broadcasting

Before our time, we’re reliably informed there were GAA journalists considered dedicated followers of fashion.

A second tier championship is exactly where Cork senior footballers deserve to be at the moment, according to former defender Tony Davis.

Special Congress will attract more attention than this weekend’s Annual Congress, as it deals with a greater number of topical issues.

Mickey Harte has named the team that is bidding to stop Dublin winning a fourth All-Ireland title on the bounce.

In Mayo, they’re still praying for a miracle — or, at least, the end of a curse.

It’s a trophy piece which would make a GAA legend proud.

The Super 8 is the advent of a form of professionalism in inter-county football but “true Corinthians” like Waterford will have to soldier on, says former manager John ‘Jackson’ Kiely.

Some of you may consider yourselves to have been spoiled by the amount of hurling in recent weeks.

Kerry U20 selector Eamon Whelan is disappointed with the rule which prevents David Clifford and Seán O’Shea from playing with their side today.

The introduction of the Super 8s will make it extremely difficult for any county to win the All-Ireland title through the qualifiers, Mickey Harte believes.

Galway captain Damien Comer has bullishly declared that the rapidly improving Tribesmen are capable of winning this year’s All-Ireland.

This afternoon, John Horan will be sworn in as the 39th president of the GAA. His in-tray will be stacked although items will have to be prioritised. Here John Fogarty breaks down the pile into those he can win and those he can bin.

Eight months of celebration — around a cup?

It’s almost time for Jim Gavin to go into hibernation. From the day after the All-Ireland final to the start of the 2018 League, his public utterings will be minimal. Dealing with media, he once claimed, was the most difficult part of his position. From the bizarre to the brilliant, John Fogarty picks 10 memorable Gavinisms

What a year for Mayo football. Once again, the country has been taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions with the men from the west, writes Dr Ed Coughlan.

Leitrim star Emlyn Mulligan has stressed the need for a tiered All-Ireland football championship to make the game more appealing to players from developing counties.