All-Ireland Finals: GAA president Jarlath Burns says deciders could return to September

Dublin beat Kerry in last year's All-Ireland SFC Final, when the contest was played on 30 July

GAA president Jarlath Burns says counties adopting uniformed club championships could result in All-Ireland Finals returning to September.

In recent years, the hurling and football deciders have been played by the end of July which hasn't met with universal approval.

Speaking to GAAGO's new discussion forum, Burns said the door isn't closed to a return to the traditional dates.

"There is a way of achieving that," said the GAA president.

"The difficulty is the people who are going to have to compromise are the counties with their own championships."

Burns says that a master fixtures plan for club championships in all counties would have to be devised for a return to September finals to be seriously considered.

"If you are organising the GAA master fixtures plan you have to bump into 32 master fixture-making bodies, higher education, and multiply that by two as you have hurling and football.

"And then within that you have seven or eight different iterations of [club] championships.

"It is totally ridiculous to think that we can organise a master fixtures plan around that."

GAA director general Tom Ryan suggested last year that a return to September finals was highly unlikely but many prominent figure in the sport, including Donegal football manager Jim McGuinness, have spoken of unhappiness at the inter-county championships being completed prior to the arrival of the late summer months.