Kelly: VEC knew there were no guarantees

THE Vocational Schools bodies have been aware for several years there was ‘no guarantee’ of their finals continuing to form the curtain-raisers to the Allianz National League deciders, GAA president Sean Kelly said yesterday.

His comments came in the wake of strong criticism from the VEC, upset the football and hurling inter-county finals are not being played at headquarters.

Pointing out that Croke Park would not be able to take three games on consecutive days this weekend, Kelly emphasised that it was official policy to include the Division Two final on the same programme as the Division One game.

However, he expressed hope that a compromise might be reached in future, whereby the Vocational Schools or other finals could be paired with other important league games.

"I can understand why the schools would be disappointed. I was not involved in the decision but having checked it out, the reasons are pretty logical," he said.

"The decision was taken three years ago that when the Division Two finals were introduced, they would be played together with the Division One finals if at all possible.

"That was the prevailing sentiment at the time. It's unfortunate the Vocational Schools games could not be

accommodated as curtain-raisers but if you did that you'd have to move Division Two somewhere else. And I imagine there would be greater angst if you did that."

Kelly reacted with surprise to comments that the decision had only been known to the finalists at the beginning of the week.

"I was getting calls about it a day or two afterwards.

The important thing now is that we would sit down and look at the future. I saw a reference in the Irish Examiner that if the schools had known in time, the finals could have been played as a curtain-raiser to some other league games.

"That should be possible going forward. The important thing at this stage is to put it behind us and to plan for next year. There will be occasions where you won't be able to please everybody and this seems to be one of them."

Meanwhile, the president used yesterday's league finals press conference at Allianz House in Dublin to make an appeal to inter-county team managers to co-operate more in leaving fringe players free to play club games when possible.

"It's important we try to strike a balance when occasions arise and they can accommodate the county committee in playing games," he said, adding that he didn't want to see blanket bans on all players over a weekend.

"You have to ask yourself at the end of the year, how many games do inter-county panellists play as opposed to county players when they wouldn't be playing with their county or club team. I would ask managers to work with county boards in approaching that in a sensible, practical way."

On the question of the new format of the hurling league, Kelly pointed out that the new committee which he has established will have the power to look at competitions in general and to put forward suggestions for change.

He said he was pleased with the profile the leagues are currently enjoying.

However, he admitted to concern over the timing of the finals, due to the closeness of the championship.

On the issue of fixing the hurling finals for Croke Park, he said when Thurles and Nowlan Park were unavailable, "it would be downgrading for the league and downgrading for the players" to play the games anywhere else.

"Croke Park, I suppose, would be the preferred venue for every player in the country. Whether it's Division One or Two, the players have come through a tough campaign and they are deserving of the occasion there."