‘Mark’ proposal is shot down

DELEGATES were in no real mood to embrace changes in the playing rules experimented in the subsidiary competitions and the league in the early motions debated at last night’s opening session of the GAA Congress in Newcastle, Co. Down.

First to be given the boot, much to the delight of people like Tyrone boss Mickey Harte who was one of the most outspoken critics, was the proposal to introduce the fisted pass in preference to hand-passing.

And the ‘mark’ proposal which initially attracted sizeable support also suffered a similar fate.

Likewise, the alteration in the square ball rule — which would permit players to be in the small square before a ball is kicked in — was rejected. Former Armagh captain Jarlath Burns made a strong plea for its retention and was backed by Ulster Secretary Danny Murphy, but they were isolated in their support for it.

In the end, just two of the experimental rules were adopted — taking penalty kicks from the 11m line and standardising all kick-outs from the 13m line.

The biggest debate took place on the recommendation to adopt the mark, with Football Rules Committee chairman Seamus Woods emphasising that it was designed to propagate and cultivate high fielding. He pointed out that in last year’s All-Ireland football final — featuring arguably the top midfield partnerships in the game — only nine catches were made.

At one stage it looked as if this motion might get through, but a show of hands called for by the president indicated that it wouldn’t have the necessary (two-thirds) support.

The recommendation that half-time and full-time should not be called until the ball has gone out of play and over any boundary line was heavily defeated.

There was strong support for a Central Council proposal that playing panels at inter-county senior level should be limited to 26. It means a change from current practice of having 24 players in the official panel for the league and 30 for championship.

Meanwhile, the ailing interprovincial hurling and football competitions may have been dealt a killer blow by a decision taken at a meeting of the Central Council not to organise the games this year. For decades now, ever since TV coverage introduced the public to a wide selection of games, the Railway Cups have been in decline. Yet, despite calls from influential officials like Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney to abandon them, they have survived largely thanks to the commitment of the majority of players and support by former Munster chairman (and selector) Noel Walsh and ex-Ulster manager Brian McEniff, among others. Equally, the sponsorship of Martin Donnelly helped breathe new life into the games, taking the finals to London, Rome, Paris and Boston. However, while the player involvement was reasonably strong, crowds at the finals were rarely above 2,000, although a double-header in Parnell Park a few years ago did attract 7,000.

The matter came before the Central Council after county committees had been circularised for their views and after a debate, delegates voted 30/20 not to proceed with the competitions this year.

An insufficient player commitment was cited as one of the reasons for the move, with a lack of interest among the public another key factor. Additionally, the competitions never found a suitable place in the calendar, facing increasing competition from the club championships and, in more recent times, the International Rules.

Contrary to expectations, there was no news on the progress of the investigation into the use of the Nemo Rangers indoor facilities by the Irish rugby squad earlier in the year. The matter was only raised at the meeting in the context of correspondence between Croke Park and the club.

During a discussion of Director-General Paraic Duffy’s report, a plea was made by Canada GAA president Brian Farmer for a review of the sanction process for students. He pointed out that as a result of the slump in the Irish economy, increasing numbers of young Irish have been travelling to Canada in search of employment and a significant number were interested in getting involved with clubs there. Last year, 3,000 visas were granted to Irish citizens and this year the figure increased to 4,000. He asked for consideration of a change to facilitate players intending to stay in the country for five or six years by means of inter-county transfers.

- Christy Cooney performed the official launch of Lest We Forget, a book by Cork GAA activist John Arnold, which chronicles the rededication of the graves of the seven GAA founders.