In Saturday’s address to the GAA’s annual congress in Croke Park, association president John Horan announced that the new Tier 2 football championship will be officially named the Tailteann Cup after the ancient Celtic sports festival.
“In ancient Ireland,” said Horan, “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 1600 BC.
“A recent meeting of Árd Chomhairle has agreed to dedicate a new trophy for the Tier 2 senior football championship to be called the Tailteann Cup – a name that honours this link to Ireland’s sporting heritage and crowns modern day sporting heroes in one of our native games.”
The games were also commemorated in the 1920s when the GAA organised the modern Tailteann Games, an international athletics event, which was optimistically seen as a Gaelic Olympics. It only lasted however for two further events, in 1928 and 1932.
The project did lead to the first infrastructural grant from the new Irish state to the association when £10,000 was given towards the construction of the original Hogan Stand in time for the first staging of the games in 1924.
Horan also spoke in support of the tiered championship, which has attracted a mixed response since its introduction last October.
“This competition came out of a desire from several counties to have a championship that was inclusive and not exclusive.
“Far from being a radical new departure, it follows a tiered path that is well known in inter-county championship hurling, at club championship level, schools’ level and across our sister organisations where it has proven itself to be effective.
“Yet, for all of that, it still does not deny a county a chance at aiming for the Sam Maguire Cup if they are good enough.”
Main motions and results from GAA Congress
1 (Pomeroy Plunketts, Tyrone): Authorising the sideline official to notify referee of any foul play. (Passed 70-30%)
2 (Limerick): Enabling team captains and managers to register two failed challenges to refereeing decisions about the validity of a score and other awards by reference to Hawk-Eye. (Withdrawn and referred to Central Council)
3 (Standing Committee on Playing Rules): Prohibiting the maor foirne from entering the field of play. (Failed to reach 60% - 59-41%)
5 (St Rynagh's, Offaly): Allowing temporary replacement of a player who has suffered a head injury. (Withdrawn and referred to Central Council)
6 (Raheens, Kildare): Prohibiting a player who has received a kick-out from passing the ball back to his goalkeeper. (Passed 62-38%)
7 (SCPR): A player taking an attacking mark in either of the rectangles may be challenged immediately if he decides to play on – as opposed to being able to take four steps. (Passed 90-10%)
8 (SCPR): Enabling sideline officials to be appointed in all matches – at present they are mandatory in and confined to inter-county fixtures. (Passed 62-38%)
9: Revising the value of a pointed sideline cut to two points (Hollywood, Wicklow). (Rejected 23-77%)
11 (St Ita's, Cork): To abolish extra-time and revert to replays for All-Ireland senior semi-finals if the teams are level at the end of 70 minutes. (Rejected 21-79%)
13 (SCPR): To introduce a black card into hurling with the same sin bin sanction as in football for cynical fouls, such as pulling down or tripping opponents. (Rejected 18-82%)
16 (NaomhÉanna, Wexford): Permitting teams through designatedrepresentatives to speak to the referee during and after a match about clarifying matters to do with officiating. (Rejected 46-54%)
19 (Central Council): Changing the designation of the Croke Park round in the All-Ireland football quarter-final round robins to that of a 'neutral venue' – enabling the CCCC to fix one of Dublin's non-away fixtures for outside of Croke Park. (Passed 90-10%)
25 (Rules Advisory Committee): Giving Central Council authority in setting close seasons for collective training. Attn: Football Tier 2 (Motions 20-27 taken together and passed 96-4%)
30 (RAC): To extend to the Management Committee a disciplinary jurisdiction to intervene in any incidents that it deems might, 'cause damage – reputational or otherwise' to the association. (Passed 99-1%)
32 (International Workgroup): To establish a body called 'World GAA,' answerable to Central Council, which would supervise and promote the association in certain overseas regions. It would also revise downwards the size of overseas delegations. (Passed 92-8%)
33 (Fixtures Calendar Review Taskforce): Establishing a central committee with oversight of club fixtures in all counties and the power to intervene of the schedules are deemed 'consistent with GAA rules and policies'. (Passed 93-7%)
36 (FCRT): Forbidding counties to call off club fixtures because of inter-county involvement except as specified in rule. Sanctions include forfeiture of grants and disqualification from the relevant inter-county championship. (Passed 82-18%)
39 (FCRT): Prohibiting any player who taken part in the national league from playing in the under-20 football championship. (Withdrawn pending further consultation)
40 and 41 (FCRT): Establishing in rule deadlines for Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup as well as secondary school competitions. (Withdrawn pending further consultation)
48 (Tourmakeady, Mayo): Broadening the definition of 'relevant connection' in the rules on eligibility for both club and county purposes to 'either parent' or 'legal guardian'. (Withdrawn and referred to Rules Advisory Committee)
59 (Leinster Council): To expand the current Leinster championship round robin from five to six counties by suspending relegation for the 2020 season and taking up the McDonagh Cup winners. (Passed 95-5%)
