Dublin county secretary John Costello has denied there is an increasing antipathy towards third-level colleges within the GAA. The past fortnight has seen mounting criticism of such institutions' participation in the secondary provincial inter-county competitions and a motion to the next Dublin County Board meeting to expel UCD from their championship.
"I don't think it's necessarily an anti-third level attitude," he said, "but there are definite misgivings on two levels: one, the participation in local championships can be a source of grievance for clubs who are beaten by college players. Another issue is the year's grace which allows players continue to represent colleges after graduation. This is seen as still a very loose provision.
"At intercounty level, I can understand that teams deprived of using college players because they have to play with their colleges aren't too happy.
"The upcoming National League is very important and teams need to finish in the top half of the table if they're going to be in Division One next year. That's not going to allow great room for experiment."
Costello also revealed that the motion, submitted by the St Vincent's club, was being looked at to see whether it was in order. "We're taking advice on that at the moment but there's been no decision yet."
The question is likely to be how properly affiliated clubs can be kept out of the county championships but in a memo to all clubs asking for support, St Vincent's claim the Dublin Competitions Control Committee have the authority to decide all aspects of championship organisation, including who takes part.
The proposal that UCD be regraded to senior B after withdrawing from last year's senior championship is also causing misgivings. Based on the fact that the college should be judged to have finished bottom of the championship rather than Lucan, this - if it went ahead - would mean that UCD players would be eligible for the divisional teams that will contest this year's senior championships.
Organised on the boundaries of the four local authority areas, the relevant divisional side could end up backboned by UCD players.
The next meeting of the county board, for which the motion has been listed, is set for next Monday week, February 5th.
Meanwhile in Ulster where Tyrone manager Mickey Harte was found to have breached the rules of the McKenna Cup by fielding players already selected by their college teams, support for the latter's inclusion in the competition has come from the province's director of coaching.
According to Eugene Young, "their participation has helped bring the competition back to life. Counties and colleges were playing each other anyway. This way they do it in meaningful competition."
Young's main argument in relation to college sides, as published recently, was not triggered by the Tyrone controversy but based on the need to guard against burnout in young players.
He believes the colleges have made a considerable contribution to Gaelic games in the province. "It's stood us in good stead in Ulster. Both Armagh and Tyrone have put a good number of players through the system. Do an analysis of any recent teams and you will find significant numbers have come through the system."
Young also revealed he is to contact former GAA president Seán Kelly, now executive chair of the Institute of Sport, with a view to clearing up an anomaly that affects the Ulster GAA. The Northern Ireland Institute of Sport has specified that players on elite programmes should be from the six counties.
"We're in the fifth year now and although I've taken players from all over Ulster (current Donegal All Star Karl Lacey is a graduate) in all but one of those years, it's an anomaly that needs to be discussed.
Rugby and hockey have the same difficulties and it's an obvious example of the need for cross-border co-operation."
•The Leinster Council announced last night that next weekend's O'Byrne Cup final between Dublin and Laois will be staged in Tullamore at 2pm. The Walsh Cup hurling match between the counties will be at 2.30 on Saturday in Rathdowney.
