ALL-IRELAND SERIES:IN DIRECT response to calls by Tyrone manager Mickey Harte and his Kerry counterpart, Jack O'Connor, to alter the football championship structures by protecting the provincial champions from elimination if they are defeated in the All-Ireland quarter-final, GAA director general Pádraic Duffy has stated the Central Competitions Control Committee will not consider such a course of action.

Duffy made it clear yesterday, speaking at the Vodafone monthly awards in Dublin’s Westbury hotel, that the All-Ireland series would remain a knockout competition, reiterating that the qualifier system was only introduced to ensure teams are not restricted to just one game each summer.

“I was involved in the qualifier the time it was brought in,” said Duffy. “The big complaint was that they trained all winter, they lost one game and they were out of the championship so the original focus was to make sure every team got a minimum of two games and it does that.

“(The All-Ireland series) is a separate competition so at that stage, would it be fair to give the provincial champions a second chance and not give the other teams a second chance in the provincial series? So that’s the rationale behind it.

“The other point I’d make about Jack O’Connor’s comments is that in the last 10 years since the qualifiers began this is the first time that the Munster champions haven’t qualified for the semi-finals. So nine times out of 10, the Munster champions have made the semi-finals.

“In fairness to Mickey Harte, he has raised this issue before and he feels it’s unfair but it’s impossible to have a totally fair system given that different provinces have different sizes but I think it would be wrong to make a decision based on one year.

“This was unique, this is the first time ever that the four provincial champions have gone out at the quarter-final stage.

“On the law of averages, it was always going to happen some time. So to change our structures because of that would probably be a mistake.”

Despite Dublin sending a motion to Congress this year seeking a second chance for defeated provincial finalists, which failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority, and a similar motion is possible for next year, Duffy counters that the fixture congestion caused by this being accepted would prove highly damaging to the club game.

“Jack O’Connor said very strongly that he wanted Kerry to go the provincial route on the basis that it would give you a break.

“Some managers will say we’re better off having games every week, other times they’ll say we’re better off having a rest. It’s a matter of opinion and managers will have different views depending on the circumstances at different times.

“And I understand why Mickey Harte and Jack O’Connor would say what they are saying but we’ve got to look at the whole broad picture. What happened last Sunday was tough from a provincial champions’ point of view but you don’t just change rules on the basis of what happens in one year.

“The other point which distorts the figures somewhat is that the reality is that Connacht teams have been very unsuccessful – eight out of 10 times they haven’t gotten out of the quarter-final stage. And the reality is at the moment, Connacht is not as strong as the other provinces.

“The reality is the quarter-finals bring the eight best teams in, it’s a knockout competition then and the best teams will go through. That’s the way it’s meant to be.

“I accept there are inequities in this system. It is very difficult. I’m not going to offer solutions; there are no obvious ones to this.

“The key point here is it was never intended everybody would have a second chance; everybody would get at least two games in the championship.

“When you get to the quarter-finals, the All-Ireland series is a knockout competition. If you want to bring equity into it at that stage, well, that would mean two round robins of four but that is not going to happen as it would destroy the club scene.”

The director general did, however, concede the six- or seven-day turnaround for defeated provincial finalists before round four, as in the case of Monaghan and Sligo this season, will be reviewed by the CCCC with a mind to perhaps bringing back the previous 13-day guarantee between these fixtures.

“Okay, the 13 days is worth looking at. If you could provide the 13 days, obviously, that would be a help.

“It would be difficult to do but we would be open to that.

“But giving everybody a second chance has ramifications. When you get to the quarter-finals it is a knockout competition.”

So, that appears to be that.

The last county to win their provincial title and go on to All-Ireland glory was Kerry back in 2007.