Donegal GAA put their cards on the table ahead of Annual Congress 2026

Donegal GAA aren’t in favour of backing any extension to the inter-county season if it threatens the futures of pre-season competitions like the Dr McKenna Cup. 

A motion to extend the campaign by a fortnight will be debated at GAA Congress this weekend. 

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If it did get the thumbs up,  it would see the All-Ireland hurling final moved to the last week in July and the football decider switched to the second week of August. 

Donegal look set to vote against it in its current guise for the simple fact it would mean an end to the Dr McKenna Cup. 

“If it goes throughand there is an extension of the two weeks, we won’t have a McKenna Cup,” chairperson Mary Coughlan told DonegalLive. 

“Talking to the major dual counties, where there is real crossover like Galway, Cork, Dublin and so on, it will have a huge effect there. 

“Personally, I think it will be lost simply because of the implications of it. Where do we stand on all of that? 

“Well, we support the McKenna Cup and we won’t be backing anything that negatates that.

“So Donegal won’t be supporting any motion that removes the pre-season competitions”. 

Meanwhile, the GAA will also seek to introduce an inter-county certification programme at Friday and Saturday’s gathering at Croke Park, with the aim to redraft its amateur status rule.

But Coughlan says that counties simply haven’t had enough time to discuss the move and that ambiguity around certain areas will mean delegates at least look to kick that can a little further down the road.

That could well mean the GAA attempts to revisit the issue down the line, by way of Special Congress, even. 

“No one disagrees that it is costing a serious amount of money to support senior teams. And for that matter, even the likes of U-20s. 

“But there is a concern about the amateur status report as you’ll have to apply for a licence. 

“And then there will be parameters set down as to what your entire entitlement would be within that licensing system. 

“The concern everyone has right now is that we simply don’t have enough information about what this will entail. 

“Does it mean you can only spend X amount of money? Does it mean only a certain number of people can be on a backroom team? 

“The other thing, and this will be an issue, they are looking for is shared information, and when that is the case, there will always be hesitancy”.

She added: “There are two motions going forward on amateur status and, again, personally for the reasons just outlined, I feel they’ll be lost.

“Our concern in Donegal is that we simply don’t actually have enough facts about what exactly it will entail. 

“Also, we’ve had no real opportunity to discuss it because the amateur status report was just launched and, next thing we know, it’s before Congress”.