Cooney: Counties can unite to change ruling

GAA president Christy Cooney has said he won’t stand in the way of counties who oppose the winter inter-county collective training ban coming together and standing behind a single motion.

Central Council delegates were told on Saturday that if there is a genuine feeling against the moratorium as it stands, similarly-minded counties should come together and support one proposal to change it.

Cooney also expressed his frustration with the multitude of questions from the media about reports of inter-county teams contravening the rules and underlined the importance of county boards ensuring their sides adhere to it.

Laois will be putting forward their own motion, which will call for the two-month break to be pushed back a month to October and November.

At the same meeting, Armagh Central Council delegate Jarlath Burns and his Tyrone equivalent Brendan Harkin warned there could be issues with players’ image rights under the new GPA official recognition protocol.

The pair expressed their concerns about the matter as the €8.5 million five-year deal was rubberstamped by Central Council in Croke Park.

Armagh and Tyrone’s remarks were the only dissenting voices heard.

A vote on the future of the inter-provincials was also postponed until the next Central Council meeting, which will be held on Congress weekend in April.

However, the stronger feeling among the provincial councils is that the competition has run its course. Their argument is that the best players don’t make themselves available for it.

Clare, with former Munster chairman Noel Walsh leading the lobby, have put together a motion calling for a task force to be established to revive the former Railway Cup.

If the future of the inter-pros is secured in April it is unlikely the football semi-finals and final will be played this year due to the presence of the International Rules series in Australia in October.