Munster GAA propose calendar change to boost hurling profile

The provincial council want to retain the round-robin format of their own competition but are in favour of altering the hurling schedule

Brian Hayes and Sean Finn in action during the Munster SHC final at Supervalu Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday. Cork vs Limerick. Picture: Larry Cummins

Thu, 25 Jun, 2026 - 17:18

John Fogarty

Munster GAA are to propose the All-Ireland senior hurling championship be pushed back by at least two weeks into August.

While the provincial council want to retain the round-robin format of their own competition, they are in favour of altering the schedule and arranging an August date for the All-Ireland final as a means of promoting the game at the elite level.

That would likely mean a late April or early May start to the provincial championships with the first teams exiting possibly in early June. This year, Waterford’s season ended on May 17 while the likes of Kilkenny, Tipperary and Wexford finished up on May 24.

At a meeting of the Munster GAA executive on Tuesday, it was agreed the council would correspond with Croke Park about their proposal. Theirs is an attempt to reduce the disparity between football and hurling games across June and July.

This year, there are seven games in the 11-team Liam MacCarthy Cup over the two months compared to 19 matches in the 16-team Sam Maguire Cup and eight in the 17-team Tailteann Cup.

Were the round stages of provincial hurling championship to conclude in June, there could be as many as 17 Liam MacCarthy Cup fixtures in June, July and August. It might also mean the All-Ireland hurling final is staged after the football decider.

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Notwithstanding the pandemic-affected season of 2021, there hasn’t been an All-Ireland SHC final in August in a normal year in seven years. The 2026 showdown takes place on July 19.

Whether the GAA leadership will be agreeable to such a move remains to be seen. In February, GAA president Jarlath Burns withdrew a motion seeking to expand the inter-county season into the second weekend in August from 2027. The rule change put forward by a Páraic Duffy-led review body was set to be defeated heavily.

However, Munster GAA are staunch supporters of the split season and, while their support for it remains, their amenability may indicate that opinions are changing on the ground.

The sense in Munster is that hurling’s current issues should not be dealt with from the top down but the bottom up. However, they believe hurling would enjoy a promotional boost with a larger inter-county footprint in the summer months.

Earlier this month, provincial chairman Tim Murphy said there was no appetite in the province for the structure of their competition to change, be it a fourth team entering the All-Ireland quarter-finals or a third versus fourth placed play-off in Munster to decide a quarter-final spot.

“Our secretary (Kieran Leddy) made a presentation on the whole structure, and every county, bar none, was supportive of maintaining the Munster senior hurling championship in its current format," said Murphy.

He continued: “And there was no ambiguity, high up or low down, everyone wants the Munster hurling championship to continue in its current format with three qualifying from the province."

The Munster Council will also support the disbandment of the hurling pre-season competitions to compensate for any extension of the inter-county window. The pre-season competitions were suspended in 2024 following a move by the Gaelic Players Association but returned this year.