Cork Minor Football ‘County Charity Run’ 2021

The Cork Minor football panel, who are training remotely have organised a group fundraising event, to raise funds and awareness for two charities. As these two charities have particular relevance to their lives, they are undertaking 5km run fundraiser. The charities they have chosen to benefit are Marymount University Hospital and Hospice and Pieta. Marymount University Hospital and Hospice and Pieta are two organisations that need no introduction due to the huge work they carry out here in Cork and further afield.

Those involved with the panel have seen how family members and relatives can be adversely affected by cancer, some have even witnessed first-hand the unbelievable work of Marymount. Our players want to ensure Marymount continues to be the heart of Cork community and support them to optimise their specialist work and services, so those they serve can receive the care and support they need. During this time of lockdowns, reduced social contacts and not having the chance to fully enjoy the things we love, our mental health can start to suffer negatively. A number of players sadly lost their club coach in recent weeks and see this fundraiser as an opportunity to promote Pieta and the valuable help and support they provide, through prevention, intervention and postvention initiatives will help provide hope to so many.

On Sunday April 11th, the panel will each run 5km within their 5km radius in accordance with Covid 19 regulations wearing their club colours. The idea behind this is to promote their fundraiser, chosen charities work and encourage others to join them. Finally, they will donate and encourage others to do likewise to the chosen charities.

There are a number of ways the public can get involved. Those who are able can run or walk a 5km in their county or club colours. You can also help promote the work undertaken by these charities by liking & sharing our event on various social media platforms. The panel would encourage people to reach out to friends, family or teammates to get involved throughout Cork city and county where we will have players and team mentors taking part in every division. Upload a picture of you in your club or county colours using the hashtag #countycharityrun after your completed your run/walk. Alternatively, you may wish to support us or a particular young person by donating through our fundraising link www.idonate.ie/countycharityrun.

All support is greatly appreciated, especially during these testing times!

Save the date for April’s Rebels’ Bounty Draw

Rebels’ Bounty Support Committee have announced that the next draw will take place on April 29th.
In total almost €40,000 in prize money will be given out across thirty winners with a bumper top prize of €25,000.
Further details on the draw and how you can watch it will be issued closer to the event.
You can check out all our opening draws that were broadcasted by our media partners Irish Examiner on March 25th last, on our website at www.gaacork.ie/rebelsbounty
All ticket sales for the 2021 draw are now closed.  The 2022 draw will open in winter 2021.

GAA release Master Fixtures Calendar for 2021 season

The GAA today released its updated Master Fixtures Calendar for the 2021 season.

The inter-county season will run from the weekend of May 8th/9th with the start of the Allianz Hurling League, to the weekend of August 28/29 when the All-Ireland Football Final will be played. The Provincial Football and Hurling championships will commence on the weekend of June 26/27.

The County and Provincial Club Championships will be played in the months of September, October, November, and December with the All-Ireland Club Finals scheduled for February 2022. Club championships can begin once the county has been eliminated from the championship.

The entire inter-county fixtures programme will be run off in a 20-week period and guarantees a minimum of five games for each Senior County Football and Hurling team with all bar three counties guaranteed six games in hurling.

2021 Allianz Football League

The Allianz Football League will from the weekend of May 15/16 to the weekend of June 19/20 with Divisions split into North and South as originally planned in December.

Four teams will be in each group based on geography with three Round Robin games per team. The top two in each divisional group will advance to the league semi-finals followed by a league final.

The bottom two in each divisional group will play relegation semi-finals with the two losers of those matches relegated. The bottom teams in Division 4 will play a Shield semi-final and final.

League finals will only be played on June 19/20 if counties involved are not playing in the championship the following weekend. If they are, then joint winners will be declared for Division 1 and joint winners and promotion for Divisions 2, 3, and 4.

London will not be participating in the 2021 Allianz Football League.

2021 Allianz Hurling League

Divisions 1 and 2 of the Allianz Hurling League will run from the weekend of May 8/9 to the weekend of June 12/13. Division 3 of the Allianz Hurling League will run from the weekend of May 15/16 to the weekend of June 19/20.

There will be no Division 1 Hurling League quarter-finals, semi-finals, or Final played. There will either be joint winners for 2021, or or if the teams that win Div 1A and Div 1B meet in the Championship, this will double as a League Final.

The Division 1 Hurling League Relegation Play-off will be played as curtain raiser to Senior Hurling Semi Final in August.

Divisions 2 and 3 will not have League Finals either. The top team in each Division will be crowned champions. The bottom team in Divisions 2A, 2B, and 3A will be relegated.

British based teams will not be involved in the Allianz Hurling Leagues this year. London and London and Warwickshire will start 2022 in Divisions 2B and 3A respectively; Lancashire in 3B.

2021 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

The 2021 All-Ireland SFC will be played as a straight knock-out competition from the provincial series forward. There will be no Qualifiers and New York and London will not be involved.

There will be no Tailteann Cup in 2021.

2021 Liam MacCarthy Cup

There will be a provincial knock-out championship with back-door qualifiers like there was in 2020, but now also with the introduction of relegation to the Joe McDonagh Cup.

There will be a preliminary round in the qualifiers between the two defeated quarter-final team in Leinster with the winners progressing to Round 1 of the Qualifiers and the losers relegated to the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2022.

Competing counties

Munster: Limerick, Waterford, Tipperary, Clare, Cork.

Leinster: Kilkenny, Galway, Wexford, Dublin, Laois, Antrim.

2021 Joe McDonagh Cup

The six competing teams will be split into two Round Robin groups with each team playing one home and one away match. The top team in each group advance to the Final which will be played on Saturday, July 17, the same day as the Leinster SHC Final, and broadcast live on TV.

The Joe McDonagh Cup winners are promoted in 2021 but do not have a back door into the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

If Kerry win the 2021 Joe McDonagh Cup they will play in Leinster in 2022 and replace the team relegated from the Leinster Championship this year.

Competing counties: Kerry, Westmeath, Meath, Carlow, Kildare, Down.

Antrim captain Conor McCann with the cup after the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup Final match between Kerry and Antrim at Croke Park in Dublin. 

2021 Christy Ring, Nickey Rackard, and Lory Meagher Cups

The only change to what was announced in December is that British based teams will not be involved. The British based teams will begin the 2022 season in the same Cup they were due to play in in 2021. The three competitions will be played on the following basis.

Two sides to the draw:

Group A – 3 teams drawn on an open draw basis (each team plays 2 games)

Group B – Two teams play in one fixture

Quarter-Final/Relegation play-off: Bottom team from A v Loser of B (loser relegated – exception: Meagher Cup)

Semi Finals: Top 2 teams from Group A are drawn to play against Winner of Group B and Winner of Quarter Final/Relegation play-off

2020 Minor and U-20 Hurling Championships and Minor Football Championships.

Details will be finalised when there is clarity on a return to training/play date.

2021 Minor and U-20 Football and Hurling Championships

Details will be finalised when there is clarity on a return to training/play date.

2021 Club Window Provisions

It is important to note that the GAA still does not have permission to return to club training or games with only training in pods of 14 allowed in the North.

However, the calendar is set up in such a way that:

  • Club competitions with county players can take place as County teams exit the Championships (in football, teams start exiting from the end of June; in Hurling July 10th) [RESTRICTIONS PERMITTING]
  • From August 1st, all Counties bar All Ireland Semi-Finalists in Football and Hurling, and the teams in the Div 1 Hurling Relegation play off, will be free to stage club competitions with county players. [RESTRICTIONS PERMITTING]
  • Additionally, the commencement of the Provincial Club Championships will be delayed until Mid-November.
  • Provinces have been requested to ensure Clubs from teams in the senior inter-county All Ireland Semi-finals and Finals will not be involved in the earliest round of the relevant Provincial Championship (where possible).
  • Senior Provincial Club Championship will most likely start in or around the weekend of Nov 20/21 (dates to be finalized by each Provincial Council).
  • All Ireland Senior Club Finals are provisionally scheduled for the weekend of February 12th/13th 2022.

The revised 2021 Master Fixtures Calendar can be viewed and downloaded below.

Download Master GAA Calendar

 

County Committee Report – 06.04.2021

The County Committee met online on Tuesday 6 April 2021. Chairperson Marc Sheehan welcomed everyone who was in attendance (192 logged on). Marc formally welcomed new GAA president Larry McCarthy to address the meeting.  The minutes of previous meeting Tuesday March 2nd were  proposed and seconded.

GAA President Larry McCarthy addressed the meeting. The President spoke on a number of topics. He congratulated everyone who was involved in Rebels Bounty. He commended everyone who had the foresight in setting up of One Cork. In relation to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, The President said he looks forward to the day when it is a successful revenue generator rather than a revenue consumer for us. The President said that the streaming programme that Cork GAA had last year for club games in association with the Irish Examiner, is an excellent model and is a model that could and he would argue should be copied by other counties.  Concluding the Chairman thanked the President for addressing the meeting.

The meeting resumed with the Runaí going through the correspondence received. Pat Flynn (Ballinascarthy) asked about when club activity might resume and the Runai said he had no further information on this. Fergal Coakley  (Blackrock) put in a query in relation to the medals the County Champions receive. The Executive have reaffirmed their position that its silver medals with gold centre for the 2 Premier Senior winning teams. There was a query in from a club in relation to Rebels Bounty numbers and sales. The support committee has decided against giving out the specific information requested. Paul McCarthy (Kinsale) highlighted the Lower Intermediate Hurling grade along with the Intermediate Football grade. He is concerned at the lack of quantity and quality of games those teams may get when regraded back to their divisions. The Runai said Paul’s correspondence was discussed by the Executive and the CCC. In relation the injury scheme, the Runai said that further correspondence had been received from John O’ Flynn (Freemount), Frank O’ Connell (St Michaels) and Liam Kenny (Kilworth) in relation to different aspects of the injury scheme.

The Progress report was proposed and seconded.

The Chairperson informed the meeting, the Executive has approved Frank McCarthy (Ballincollig) as Vice Chairman of the County Hearings Committee and Brian O’ Loughlin (Kanturk) as Secretary of the County Hearings Committee.

The Chairperson informed the board, that following an Executive meeting held prior to the County Committee meeting, he wished to confirm that the Executive committee has established an investigation sub-committee, to seek observations from a unit of the association in the county in relation to an alleged Covid-19 training breaches, and the matter will be delt with in due course and no further comment would be made.

A CCC update was given by County Vice-Chairman Pat Horgan. Pat said the CCC had been busy dealing with routine business, transfers, appeals and gradings. Exploratory discussions have been held on a proposed league grouping. Ideas have been come up with and a plan has been come up with, but the plan would not be revealed at the moment. Pat said the only positive news he could give the meeting was that it has been decided that the Championship draws would be held on Thursday April 29th on the same night as the April Rebels Bounty draw.

Staying on CCC matters the Runai said a primary concern was not to corrupt the 2022 competitions, so that’s why would be remaining steadfastly committed to relegation and promotion in both the leagues and championship. The Runai again referenced the correspondence from Paul McCarthy (Kinsale). The Runai said both the CCC and the Executive have had a preliminary discussion on lower Intermediate Hurling grade and whether they are all to be regraded as planned at the end of this year, and the extra 4 teams in Intermediate Football and whether those 4 teams would be regraded at the end of this year. What has been decided is that there is going to be a full Executive meeting next Tuesday (April 13th). The Runai said we recognise the concerns of the clubs involved and that there’s other clubs with similar concerns. He said we also recognise the views of the Divisions that were expressed strongly when we revamped our championship 18 months ago so we are striving not to make a kneejerk reaction at tonight’s meeting. Between now and the Executive meeting next Tuesday night, we are inviting correspondence from any club that wishes to send in their views on this matter and also from any Division or other units who wishes to send in any correspondence. At the Executive meeting it will be discussed whether there should be a pause on the regrading of those teams, and perhaps have a little view to the future as it was always agreed that the re-grading would happen this year so there will also be a review of Junior competitions, so if there were teams being regraded, we would be certain they would get sufficient competitions following regrading.

Central Council delegate Tracey Kennedy gave a report from the last Central Council meeting held on March 20th.  It was noted that Conor McCarthy (O’ Donovan Rossa) has been appointed to the Strategic planning committee. The next meeting will be held on May 22nd.

Munster Council delegate Gerard Lane gave an report from the Munster Council meeting held on March 18th.

The Runai said the Inter-county teams were looking forward to returning working away on zoom and individual sessions.

In relation to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh,  John O’ Flynn (Freemount) asked about the decision making process in relation to the expansion of SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The Runai said he will clarify the approval process, but the Stadium Board Directors would be liaising with the Executive.

Michael Byrne said a review was currently being undertaken of procedures in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and as part of that he is hoping to add some new stewards to the excellent group of existing stewards that is already in place. In the coming days an email will be going out to all club secretaries and to the Camogie Association and also to Ladies Football seeking expressions of interest in being involved in stewarding. Michael thanked Cian O’ Brien (Glen Rovers) for his assistance in relation to an information page that has been put up on the Cork GAA website.

In relation to Rebels’ Bounty, the Chairperson said the first 3 draws had taken place. He said in total sales were approximately 28,150 which was a tremendous success and is looking forward to making it bigger and better into the future. It raised €1.9m for the clubs across the city and county. The Runai gave some further details on the tickets sold. There was an increase of 13,300 on the previous year. For Senior clubs the average sale was 304 tickets on a quota of 100, with ticket sales ranging from 59 to 693. Intermediate clubs averaged sales 197 tickets per club on a quota of 70, with ticket sales ranging from 46 to 637. Junior A clubs averaged 136 sales per club on their quota of 55 with ticket sales ranging from 36 to 412. The Junior B clubs averaged 68 sales per club on their quota of 35 with ticket sales ranging from 3 to 148. The prizes were in the Examiner on Saturday and are also up on the Cork GAA website. The Runai said we will taking any feedback on what worked and what didn’t work ahead of next year. The Runai also said the quotas are in place for a 3 year period (2021, 2022, and 2023).

The Chairperson congratulated Shane Barrett (Blarney) who was recently announced as the Munster Under 20 Hurler of the year for 2020.

County PRO Joseph Blake paid tribute the former Echo Hurling correspondent John Horgan on his retirement after 46 years with the paper.

The votes of sympathy were read out. The meeting concluded and the next meeting will be held on Tuesday May 4th at 8pm.

 

 

 

Covid-19 Latest Update for GAA Members

A chairde,

I know you will be aware by now of the positive announcement by the Irish Government this evening that non-contact underage training in pods of 15 will be permitted from April 26th and that full contact Inter-County training at adult level can re-commence from April 19th.

These are hugely welcome developments and allow us finally to begin planning on-field activity for the remainder of 2021. However, it should also be noted that these dates are conditional and will very much depend on what happens in terms of the overall COVID-19 picture in the coming weeks. For that reason, it is more important than ever that no collective training sessions are held between now and the Government indicated return dates. Breaches in this context will not only be dealt with under our own Rules but would likely put the broader plan to return to activity in serious jeopardy.

As you will appreciate, we need to receive further clarity on aspects of what was announced today before finalising our plans for a return to training and ultimately games. We also need to finalise competition structures and dates for the up-coming inter-county season, as well as ensuring advice is provided for all clubs in relation to how they can safely recommence underage activity (and in the case of the 6 Counties, adult club training from April 12th).

At this point, we can only confirm that Senior Inter County teams both North and South are likely to be permitted to return to collective training from Monday, April 19th. We hope to be in a position to confirm the fixture calendar and competition structures for inter county by the end of next week.. We also hope to have finalised updated versions of our Return to Play documents for both inter-county and club activity ahead of the stated dates for resumption North and South of the border.

In the interim, we would ask for your patience while we complete this work and we look forward to communicating in detail with you all again next week in relation to the resumption of GAA activity.

Is muidne, le meas,

Labhrás Mac Carthaigh, Uachtarán

Tomás O Riain, Ard Stiúrthóir