National Leagues may not be completed

The last surviving GAA match of senior significance, the much-delayed Offaly county hurling final between Birr and Seir Kieran, was yesterday postponed again by the county board. "We did it following consultation with the Department of Agriculture," said Offaly PRO Pat Teehan.

A number of counties - including Kerry, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Monaghan and Louth - have abandoned all activity and with schools and colleges fixtures also being pulled, the GAA will have a virtually clean slate this weekend.

As cancellations in the short and medium term become a reality, attention turns to the long-term prospects for the GAA's season. With only one free Sunday between now and the start of the championship, the National Leagues wouldn't take long to get into difficulty. It's almost certain that at least two series of matches will have to be postponed and even if there is no confirmed case in the Republic, the problem will remain as to what to do about the cross-border counties until Northern Ireland gets the all clear.

If there is an outbreak south of the border, it's impossible to see either the NFL or NHL being completed, as at least a month would be required to lift restrictions. The League knockout stages are scheduled early this year in order to accommodate the new football championship but anything beyond a two-week suspension will make the April dates impossible to fulfil.

The club championships are also in difficulty with St Patrick's Day two weeks away. At least the clubs, unlike the National Leagues teams, don't have such a tight calendar to accommodate but the county championships will be starting soon and that will create pressure - as will the involvement of a number of prominent intercounty players on the remaining teams in the championship. Nonetheless, the club finals are capable of being replayed later in the year.

The Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups will also have to be postponed but there isn't a great deal of time before under-21 championships are in full swing and then exams come into focus before finally, many students head for overseas, a migration which has traditionally made university participation in county championships - with rare exceptions - impossible. Graduation and the new academic year make an autumn resumption awkward to organise.

Administratively, the GAA has to contemplate the prospect of postponing its annual congress which is due in five weeks. Ironically, this could impact on its room for manoeuvre in the football championship, changes to which will involve nearly 30 additional matches this summer. These changes were accepted by a special congress last October and would technically require a congress decision to suspend - although in emergency circumstances, Central Council might actually discharge its remit to run the association between congresses.

Certainly the Rule 42 debate - on the use of GAA grounds for other sports - could not take place and the financial possibilities of leasing Croke Park would have to remain unexplored. The Hurling Development Committee's proposals to introduce a championship format similar to the new football blueprint could not be debated although this wouldn't have a practical impact as long as the rescheduled congress took place before the end of the year.

Finally, an appeal by the University of Limerick against their Fitzgibbon Cup expulsion has been lodged with the GAA's Games Administration Committee. "It was received this morning," according to GAC chairman Padraig Duffy, "and will in all likelihood be dealt with at next week's meeting. We're due to meet next Wednesday and I don't think we'll be bringing that meeting forward."

The urgency of the matter originally lay in the remaining unresolved Fitzgibbon quarterfinal between UL and UCD. Were UL to succeed with their appeal, the match would have to take place and with the Fitzgibbon due to take place in UCD next weekend, there would be pressure on the GAC to resolve the matter quickly. Now that the Fitzgibbon is most unlikely to survive the current wave of postponements, the appeal can wait until next Wednesday.

Offaly have also announced that next Tuesday's county board meeting has been postponed. Another county function, the Offaly Association's Person of the Year Award that was to have been presented to "Team of the Millennium" hurler Brian Whelahan, has been called off.