Noel McCaffrey withdraws Motion 12 on inter-county players playing club league

Clontarf GAA club’s motion, which proposed that adult players must play a minimum of four club league games to be eligible for inter-county competition, was withdrawn by Noel McCaffrey and Dublin GAA at the GAA Annual Congress on Saturday afternoon in Donegal Town. 

The motion, originally put forward by the former Dublin footballer at his club AGM, had been overwhelmingly passed at the Dublin AGM last December. However, after further consultation and discussions, it was ultimately withdrawn before coming to a vote at Congress. 

Dr McCaffrey introduced the motion by highlighting the evolving landscape of player participation over the past few decades.

READ NEXT: Galway shake up starting 15 for crucial clash with Donegal

He noted that the availability of county players for club league games has dramatically decreased, stating: "The number of competitive league games from which county players are available has gone from 100pc to zero percent. 

“Was there any significant change in the number of games played at county level?" he asked, arguing that clubs, particularly those in weaker counties, were suffering as a result. 

McCaffrey further emphasised the significance of inter-county players regularly representing their clubs, both for their own development and the overall ethos of the GAA. 

"It cuts the core essence of our association, which should be celebrating the fact that our iconic players are featuring this week in Croke Park or anywhere, and next week, not in eight months’ time, they are on the club pitch with their friends, with their families, beside the youngsters, and talking to them. 

“One of the things I'd like to point out is that there's no implementation plan for this. And I would urge our association to take the view that we are well capable as an association, and we've shown many, many times that we will find a way to implement a principled motion of support. 

“And that's happened as recently as with the Football Review Committee. What was passed, at least, was not the rules. What was passed was the decision to change the rules, and we then trusted the process.” 

Despite the strong rationale behind the motion, opposition arose from several quarters. Tony O’Hara, representing London, voiced concerns about the motion’s feasibility.  

"On behalf of London, we totally vote this motion down. We have a very good master plan that we seriously work on every year... I cannot see how that would fit into the current programme... It’s just impossible. 

Cork also opposed the motion, while recognising its intent. "We believe that a county player playing in his club colours is the essence of the GAA, where participation and performance are perfectly synchronised,” said Kevin O’Donovan.  

“We all embrace the spirit, but we believe the motion is unworkable and unenforceable." 

He elaborated on potential issues that could arise, such as scheduling difficulties, fixture congestion, and conflicts with inter-county commitments.  

"What about the impact of weather, where a weekend gets taken away? What about the requirement for eight weeks then having an effect on the split season and pushing the inter-county championship out a further eight weeks?" he questioned. 

“And I would fear that this motion would bring back the culture of the whisper in the ear from the Inter-County backroom, regarding tight hamstrings etc, maybe sit this one out. And the county board are drawn into that paperwork from that. 

The discussion also touched on the financial implications of the current system, with McCaffrey arguing that excessive expenditure on inter-county teams could be alleviated by ensuring players return to their clubs.  

"The recent publication of the financial situation points to the extraordinary amount of expense we’re going to take, and this motion would also address that." 

Ultimately, after recognising the strength of opposition and the need for further discussions, McCaffrey made the decision to withdraw the motion but feels something has to done to save the ethos of the GAA. 

“I do actually disagree with some of the points that have been put back here,” he said.  

“I don't think it's unenforceable at all, actually. I think, and the point I was going to make about that, is that we have shown an ability, and I said that earlier, many, many times this is an association that brought the Queen of England to Croke Park. 

"I have no difficulty withdrawing [the motion] if there’s a sense in this room that we would work together to solve the problem and not kick it down the road again. Because this is going in a terrible direction for our association. It is destroying the core ethos of what we should be doing." 

With McCaffrey’s withdrawal, it was noted that elements of the motion could be considered in future discussions and possible amendments. 

"I do passionately believe that if we believe that this is a problem for the association — and it’s very hard to argue that it’s not — then something must change."