Special Congress: GAA rejects Motion 19 after falling short of required 60% majority

Former GAA president John Horan spoke in favour of Motion 19

The GAA's Special Congress has voted to reject a motion that would have radically restructured the inter-county football championships.

Motion 19, better known as Proposal B, promised to end the provincial championships' link with the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.

The motion failed after falling short of the required 60% majority.

Motion 19 was voted on after Motion 18 - or Proposal A - was defeated with 90% of delegates voting against it.

The structure of the 2022 season will now return to the system last played in 2017 with qualifiers and quarter-finals but no Super 8s, and the Tailteann Cup added in.

After over an hour-long debate at Croke Park, 50.6% of delegates (85) voted in favour of Motion 19, with 83 voting against.

But that was not enough to pass the motion that would have overhauled the current All-Ireland football format with a league-based series and effectively turned the provincial championships into pre-season competitions with no link to the Sam Maguire Cup.

Under that guise, the provincial championships would have been played in February and March before a league-based All-Ireland series with four divisions between April and July.

Motion 19 was debated after the alternative Motion 18 (Proposal A) was emphatically rejected. The motion, which sought to introduce four eight-team provincial championships, was beaten by 138 voted to 15 with nobody having spoken for or against it.

GAA president Larry McCarthy and former present John Horan after Motion 19 is defeated

For the secret ballot, each county had between two and five votes based on their number of clubs. The 32 counties accounted for 86 votes with the GAA's Central Council making up 52, 38 for overseas bodies and seven for past association presidents.

The structure of the football championship is expected to be revisited at Congress in February.

Motion 19's rejection will come as a surprise to many after the proposal seemed to have gained considerable momentum in the build-up to Saturday's gathering at Croke Park with GAA president Larry McCarthy encouraging delegates to usher in the introduction of a league-based All-Ireland series.

However, speaking after the vote, Ulster GAA chief executive Brian McAvoy said the passing of Proposal B would have been a "very sad day for the association".

"We've been saying all along that there is a need for change, but it has to be change for the better, not change for the worse," said McAvoy.

"There was no consensus with this motion. It was divisive and we've seen that with the result of the vote, virtually 50-50.

"That wasn't a way for change. You have to have consensus and there was no consensus with this proposal."

McAvoy, who last week said Proposal B would be an almost Brexit-like moment for the GAA, added: "I think there is clear momentum now that there still has to be a link between the provincial championships and the All-Ireland series.

"I think the leagues could be revamped and a route to the All-Ireland series through the leagues as well. We can be creative and give players more football if that's what they want."

GAA president McCarthy said "we weren't bold enough" with regards to the vote, but added that the association is looking forward to an "altered landscape".

"I expect that we will revisit this very, very quickly," said McCarthy.

"I'm not so sure we'll have something for February, but there is an appetite for change in the majority and I think every speaker said they'd like change."

During the debate, 10 delegates spoke in favour of Proposal B, including Gaelic Players Association CEO Tom Parsons, who said such sweeping changes would "spark life into Gaelic football".

Clare manager Colm Collins also spoke in favour of the motion, saying it was the "shot in the arm these Championships need" while former GAA president Sean Kelly argued that it was an opportunity for "the weaker counties to get equal status in the Association".

Eight Ulster delegates spoke against the motion, including Fermanagh GAA's Tiernach Mahon, who said Proposal B had the "potential to destroy the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of Fermanagh people".

What were the proposals?

Proposal A

• Four eight-team provincial championships

• Lowest Ulster team in League moved to Connacht SFC

• Two round robin groups in provincial championships

• Winners into provincial finals and bottom teams into Tailteann Cup

• Second and third-place teams in All-Ireland qualifiers

• Provincial champions into All-Ireland quarter-finals

Proposal B

• Only voted on if Proposal A fails

• Provincial series' link with All-Ireland SFC to end

• Provincial SFCs played in Feb/March

• All-Ireland SFC on league basis with four divisions between April and July

• Top five teams in Division 1 into All-Ireland quarter-finals

• Division 2 winners into last eight

• Second and third-placed Div 2 teams and Div 3 & 4 winners play off for last-eight spots

• Tailteann Cup includes all Div 3 and 4 teams bar All-Ireland quarter-finalists