GAA Congress 2023 - All You Need to Know

It's that time of year again, where the powers that be in the GAA propose changes to the rule book, review the year just gone and usher in a new president.

I have a vague idea of GAA Congress works, but it’s a year since the last one, give me a little refresher.

The GAA Congress is the supreme legislative body of the association, so the annual get together is primarily concerned with changes to the rule book.

There is also a review of the year just gone, while a new president is ushered in.

How many rule changes are we likely to see in 2023?

We’ll have to see how the votes play out, but 62 motions have been proposed across a number of categories. All but two of them will require a 60% majority to pass, while two require 50% to pass:

Motion 11 – where every GAA club will be compelled to field at least one hurling team at U-7, U-8, U-9 and U-10 levels, and

Motion 35 - that which oversees the realignment of the rule book between rules and policies / principles

Back up a second. Every club must have an underage hurling team? Hard to see that in some parts of the country. Would it even be enforced?

The motion is the baby of Wexford’s 1996 All-Ireland winning manager Liam Griffin, whose belief is that every child in the country should be afforded the opportunity at a young age to play hurling, something he says is not in place because not enough clubs have hurling sections.

Griffin has said he is not forcing hurling on clubs, but rather giving every the opportunity to experience the game.

"How many Seán Óg Ó hAilpíns are out there that could be coached to play the game?" he asked. "Any of us interested in the game owe this to hurling to support it."

Exceptions are provided for, such as if demographics could prove a club was not