Jarlath Burns says door is open on September return for All-Ireland finals

A return to September for All-Ireland finals is a possibility, but only if counties adopt uniformed club championships, GAA president Jarlath Burns has said.

In 2019, as part of a three-year trial, the All-Ireland deciders were moved from their traditional slots of the first (hurling) and third (football) Sunday of September.

This year's hurling decider takes place on 21 July, with the football showpiece a week later on 28 July at Croke Park.

There have been calls for the association to revert back to September, but a motion at the 2021 Congress ensured that All-Ireland finals are to be played in July as part of the split-season model.

In his annual report last year, GAA director general Tom Ryan said the days of September All-Ireland finals are gone, but speaking on GAAGO's new 'Ratified' discussion forum, Burns said the door isn't closed on moving back to the traditional dates.

The sticking point, he says, is the different club championship formats across the country.

"There is a way of achieving that, going right back to September with the two finals," he said.

"The difficulty is the people who are going to have to compromise are the counties with their own championships. We missed the point with what the problem was.

"That problem is, if you are organising the Premier League fixtures, very simple, all you have to look out for are UEFA and FIFA fixtures."

The GAA president acknowledged that hotel prices for teams and supporters were also an issue for July All-Ireland finals, and said the only way to return to September dates would be to streamline all the club championships with a master fixtures plan.

"If you are organising the GAA master fixtures plan you have to bump into 32 master fixture-making bodies, Higher Education,