Dublin will include UCD in draw

UCD will be included in the draw for this year’s Dublin hurling championship. This emerged from a marathon Dublin County Board meeting late last night at which the competitive future of the college was discussed.

In the end, proposals to revisit the county’s championship policy as decided last month – a move seen as intended to exclude the college – were withdrawn by the O’Tooles and St Vincent’s clubs and the matter was referred to a new Croke Park body, established to consider the issue of player eligibility.

Last night’s meeting considered two distinct matters relevant to UCD. The first was a motion proposed by St Joseph’s-O’Connell Boys, urging that Rule 32 governing player eligibility be restricted in relation to college sides and asking the county board to take the proposal to next April’s annual congress.

That motion was, however, itself amended to remove a restriction stipulating that no player could play in two county finals. This amendment was carried.

One of the influences on this discussion was the committee established within the last week or so by GAA president Seán Kelly, who announced the initiative at last month’s Dublin county convention, to look into the whole issue of player eligibility.

It will be chaired by Leinster Council chair Liam O’Neill, who is joined by four Central Council delegates, John McIlroy (Fermanagh), Tom Downes (Clare), John Greene (Longford) and Bernie O’Connor (Galway).

This group will consider the broader issues at stake and make proposals for congress. In the light of this and a meeting last weekend between O’Neill and Dublin representatives it was proposed that the St Joseph’s-O’Connell Boys motion be deferred.

"Our brief is to examine overall eligibility for club championships," according to O’Neill. "A lot of that will be concerned with anomalies arising from the intermediate and junior championships but the area of third-level colleges will also be part of our remit."

The main bone of contention is the fact that students can play senior championship with both their college and club – provided the latter is not in the same county.

The second issue was the participation of UCD in this year’s county championship. Although there was no formal notice of motion before the meeting, a move was expected to disallow the college’s registration and affiliation.

Another controversy affecting third-level Gaelic games comes to a head tonight with the hearing by the Central Appeals Committee of an appeal by the four intercounty players suspended for lining out with Dublin City University in the Higher Education league semi-final last November.

Westmeath’s Dessie Dolan, Laois’s Ross Munnelly, Dublin’s Shane Ryan and Diarmuid Kinsella of Wexford all received scholarships to pursue post-graduate courses but the Higher Education Council ruled last month that as the courses in question were deemed part-time, the players were ineligible and so suspended for 12 months.