Mr Bertie Ahern, TD for Dublin Central, officially launched the 2008 TG4 Ladies' Football All-Ireland Championships at a ceremony in Croke Park on Monday.
The TG4 Championships will be competed across the three grades established in 2007; Senior, Intermediate and Junior.
The Senior Championship has been restructured for 2008 with the introduction of a qualifier system for those knocked out of the provincial Championships at an early stage.
The provincial winners will enter the All-Ireland series of the Championship at the quarter-final stage, while the provincial runners-up will go into the second round of qualifiers.
Mr Ahern TD, who has been an avid supporter of Ladies' Football over the years, said: 'I've launched this tournament for many years. There is no easy path to sporting excellence of the type that will be shown by each of the counties in this year’s Ladies' Football Championships. The road to success is mapped with hard work – there will be days that will test the character of all involved, when physical and mental toughness will be required in abundance.'
TG4 will broadcast two live games each weekend from 27 July all the way through to the All-Ireland finals. TG4 will air a total of 17 live games during the All-Ireland series culminating in a triple bill of finals at GAA headquarters on Sunday, 28 September.
The All-Ireland Minor final will be televised for the very first time as part of a double bill with a Round 1 Senior Championship qualifier. The two Intermediate Championship semi-finals will also be broadcast live on TG4 and all of the televised games will be streamed live on www.tg4.ie.
Pól O’Gallchóir, Ceannasai, TG4, said: 'The strong partnership between TG4 and Ladies' Football has been ongoing for the past eight years and during those years Ladies' Football has made huge progress. I would like to thank Mr Bertie Ahern T.D. for his loyal active support of Ladies' Football and of TG4 during those years.'
Geraldine Giles, Uachtarán Cumann Peil Gael na mBan, said: 'The Championship is the highlight of the season and the culmination of a lot of hard work from the players and management staff.'
Ladies' Football is the largest female team participation sport in the country with over 130,000 registered members in 1,000 clubs around the country. Last year over 26,000 people attended the All-Ireland finals in Croke Park, while 267,000 tuned into the games live on TG4.
Ladies' Football have teamed up with the Sunday Independent and Puma to provide the 2008 Ladies' Football Golden Boot Award for the Senior Championship. Further details on the Golden Boot Award are available at www.ladiesgaelic.ie.
The draw for the first Round of the Qualifiers took place at the Championship launch. There were tough draws for Waterford and Kildare and Galway received a bye to Round 2.
Sunday 27 July 2008 (Venue TBC)
TG4 Senior Championship qualifier round 1
Armagh v Waterford 4.15pm
Down v Meath 6.00pm
Monday 4 August 2008 (Venue TBC)
TG4 Senior Championship qualifier round 1
Donegal v Kildare 3.30pm
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