Delegates at today's GAA Special Congress at Croke Park have overwhelmingly passed a motion to change the format of the 2008 All-Ireland hurling championship by the required two-thirds majority.
The three-page motion aimed to replace a ruling, passed at GAA
Congress in Kilkenny last April, which would have brought changes to the championship from next season.
The 72 delegates voted in favour of changing the current format by 55 votes to 17, with alterations taking place in the preliminary stages of the championship.
After round two, Galway and Antrim will now play the first round
losers in Munster and Leinster. The winners of those games advance to the next round while the losers face off in a relegation play-off.
In turn, the losers of the relegation play-off will play the Christy
Ring Cup champions to decide their status in the following year's
championship.
The motion was proposed on behalf of the Hurling Development Committee (HDC) by its chairman Ned Quinn, who subsequently briefed Congress on the changes. Quinn gave assurances that the new system was the best one for all concerned.
'We will ensure that no team can lose more than twice. We will
mathematically ensure that no teams will meet each other twice until the All-Ireland final and we will ensure promotion for the Christy Ring winners,' Quinn said.
However, not all in attendance were satisfied with this proposal and there was disquiet expressed by a number of delegates including Antrim chairman Dr John McSparran.
'The proposal must be opposed,' McSparran argued. 'Clearly this
proposal has been contrived on two issues - two strikes and you are out, and on club activity.
'I fully support some of the points raised by Pauric Duffy in his
document. This proposal, however, is an overreaction and a knee jerk response to a complex issue.
'After every one of our games we had a full round of club league games on a Sunday. It's important to note that we play football in Antrim as well.'
Galway County Board chairman Gerry Larkin also spoke in opposition to the motion.
Meanwhile, Offaly's Pat Teehan and Tipperary's John Costigan spoke in favour of the motion, with the Premier County chairman believing that it was impossible to plan ahead if the current system was maintained.
'It was impossible for us to plan ahead and we were working from Sunday to Sunday, as was the case this year in Munster where we had two draws and then the round-robin series,' he admitted.
'Our club championship was parked in May to recommence at the end of June but was again parked until the second week of August. If we had won the All-Ireland quarter-final, it would have likely to have been parked once more until September.'
