Through the centuries, Easter in Ireland has always had a strong historical, but particularly spiritual and political impact.
It is an important time in our country.
Perhaps it's those religious and rebellious influences somewhere lurking in my DNA that has inspired me to write about what has been annoying me for some time and while this might be viewed by some in authority as a rant, let me assure you, it's genuinely not.
But it is a growing concern about how that most important ingredient in the GAA calendar year is compiled.
It's the championship fixture list.
I kept my powder dry two weeks ago when the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A final between Cork and Tipperary and the Division 1B final between Waterford and Offaly were played in conjunction with Football Championship matches in New York, Castlebar, Navan, Longford and Ballybofey.
But let me compare this for a moment with the previous weekend, when the Allianz Football League Division 1, 2, 3 and 4 finals were played on both Saturday and Sunday in Croke Park, with no internal GAA opposition to dilute the main events.
I make no apologies for stating over and over again that hurling is the greatest game in the world and what makes it so special is the fact that it is unique to us on this island of ours.
It is part of our heritage and culture and needs our love and affection.
What lit up last year’s championship were the hurling games between Cork and Limerick and the Clare vs Cork All-Ireland final.
The game needs oxygen for it to breathe and grow. It needs to be respected.
Some of my football friends who try to annoy me put on that cynical tone and ask, "you mean that game that's played in about 11 counties?"
And I reply: "Yes. It’s exclusively ours."
Ger Loughnane, the god of Clare hurling, probably had a better response for the cynics.
"Football…the game played by people who can’t play hurling."
The national hurling league finals, particularly Division 1A and 1B, should be given one Sunday exclusively to themselves.
No other distractions, whether in Ireland or abroad, should get in the way of these finals.
Play championship football on the Saturday beforehand if there is a requirement.
However, hurling needs to be showcased so every person in Ireland, from Donegal to Carlow, can watch the games and national finals only come around twice a year.
Two Sundays a year exclusively to both codes for finals is not a big ask. People may argue why delay the Football Championships? What interest has Mayo or Sligo, Meath or Offaly got in Hurling? Are you kidding me?
Say that to people from those counties, and you will get the response you richly deserve.
On a personal level, I got my passion for the GAA playing as a kid in the dusty goalmouths of Gaelic Park and the lush green fields of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Intercounty stars we could only imagine back then now visit once a year and while some here at home might say Galway or Mayo’s visit to the Big Apple is unimportant, then my response is simple.
You just don't get it.
The GAA's impact over the generations across the United State from Los Angeles, to Chicago, to Boston, and back to New York is massive.
For the Irish diaspora, that one day in the Bronx when a Connacht team travels to the US is an acknowledgment to the past when thousands of people left our shores seeking opportunity.
It's a tipping of the hat to their descendants and more recent emigrants who live there now and builds a bridge to the future that all those people may be American by birth, but they will always be Irish by heritage.
The same is true of London's participation in the Connacht championship.
Look at the crowd that turned up in Ruislip to see Roscommon play London.
Perhaps it might be time to design a plan so that counties from the other three provinces to get a chance to travel abroad to these venues.
In the not-too-distant past, these games in New York and London marked the opening day of the football championship and they had the day primarily to themselves.
Unfortunately, now it's just part of a tsunami of games coming our way with the result being that these games fall down the pecking order to the point of almost being forgotten about.
The start of the Championship should be done with fanfare, massive publicity on all platforms from newspapers to radio to online to television. I have never felt that this ever happened. It's a damp squib that deserves better. It deserves a big opening game.
By the time the All-Ireland finals are played a few months later in Croke Park, we have all forgotten what the start of the championships were like.
When July rolls around, the perception continues that everything in the GAA is glorious at that moment in time, and then the cycle begins again.
However, some things more important than getting though a highly congested fixture list.
It’s our games and our heritage, and the GAA provides both.
I have the utmost empathy, and indeed sympathy, for the people who put together the championship fixture list because it is really difficult to please everyone.
This is the third week of the championship and it’s only now that many of us are feeling that it finally starts this weekend.
Last weekend there were six games played in the senior championships. Four in Leinster and two in Ulster.
With respect, except for the supporters of those counties involved, there was nothing box office there.
But looking at this weekend, week three, suddenly we have block buster matches in every province in both codes.
The Leinster hurling championship begins with Kilkenny v Galway but before that we have Wexford v Antrim and Dublin v Offaly.
In Munster football, it is Cork v Kerry in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Clare v Tipperary in Ennis.
In Connacht, there is Leitrim v Mayo and in Ulster it’s Fermanagh v Down.
On Sunday, it’s a repeat of last year’s unbelievable All-Ireland hurling final between Clare and Cork. The All-Ireland champions against the League champions.
Later in the afternoon in Thurles, it’s Limerick vs Tipperary which will happen at the same time as Galway vs Roscommon in the Connacht football championship.
And last but far from least, Donegal vs Monaghan in the Ulster championship.
And that is all on this Sunday!
Do you get my point?
It’s only in Week 3 that the Championship begins in earnest in all four provinces.
It’s a tsunami of games this weekend that all of us would love to see and enjoy but it’s downright impossible.
There is some difference.
The core problem of course here is time.
Or dare I mention it, the split season.
It all seems so rushed to get the games played that none of us have time to savour and enjoy the matches.
I understand it will change a little next year but right now this is where we are.
I am a club man, but I do think the GAA have sacrificed too much.
I am old fashioned, but I do think the All-Ireland finals should be played in September.
They are the GAA's crown jewels, and like the games we love, should be protected and loved.
One last thought, considering all county finals are finished by the end of October, which means only one club in each county are still playing as they move on to the provincial club championships or two obviously if you include both codes.
Why not play two rounds of the Allianz League in November and have your closed season in December and January and open the turnstiles again in February?
You'd have two rounds of the league played, it fills the long gap between All Ireland finals in July and gives everyone something to look forward to before 2025 ends and 2026 begins.
