Divisional Boards play a waiting game on structures

The four divisional GAA boards of Tipperary are awaiting clarification of the implications of the Congress ruling on championship structures, which, on the face of it, may prohbit a link between the county and divisional championships.

Congress ruled on Saturday, by a very strong majority, that championships in senior and intermediate must be limited to sixteen teams - presumably with the aim of having county championships completed in time to allow for a calendar year conclusion to the All-Ireland club scene.

However, the present Tipperary structure allows for a link between the divisional and county championship, thereby possibly extending the Dan Breen championship to beyond sixteen clubs. In other words, all 32 senior teams in the county competing in the Dan Breen and Seamus O'Riain Cup have the chance of going forward to the concluding stages of the top flight championship, through the divisional door.

At present those who play in the Seamus O'Riain Cup cannot compete in the Dan Breen Cup also, unless they win their divisional final. But, they do have the chance, and the divisional championship also allows for a team which does not qualify through the early rounds of the county championship to redeem themselves by winning their divisional championshiip and going through in that way.

There are great fears that breaking the link in Tipperary between the divisional and county championships will signal the end of the divisions outright - it would certainly devalue the divisions.

There is a school of thought however, that the divisional Boards might be able to divide their senior championships into two grades also, thereby overcoming the sixteen team dilemna. This would see Dan Breen grade teams playing each other in their own division too to determine who could go forward to the county championship. However, this poses problems for some divisions as, for instance, in south Tipp there is only one Dan Breen team, and only two in west Tipperary - Mullinahone could find themselves in the last 16 without pucking a ball, a scenario which nobody would want.

“Usually a short while after Congress, we receive a more detailed analysis of the consequences of the rulings made from the Rules Advisory Group, and from those guidelines we will have a better idea of the exact implications,” County Board Chairman, Joe Kennedy told tipperarylive.ie.

The Tipperary delegates to Congress had been mandated by the County Executive to vote for the motion - a move which caused a ripple of anger throughout the county as vented on social media over the weekend.

“Clubs were given the chance to submit their thoughts on the motions in advance of us making the decision on which way to vote on all of them, and the County Ececutive Committee held a meeting on that basis and decided what Motions we would and would not be supprting. Our vote would have made no difference anayway such was the majority,” Joe Kennedy said.