McCarthy: Tailteann Cup final would be lost on All-Ireland final undercard

GAA president Larry McCarthy has said that placing the Tailteann Cup decider on the undercard of the All-Ireland final was never a serious option.

The first-ever champions of the new competition will be crowned on 9 July at Croke Park, a match that RTÉ will screen live, with the All-Ireland Hurling final taking place a week later and the football decider on 24 July.

McCarthy, however, said that club commitments and the all-conquering beast of All-Ireland final day would have proven detrimental to the second-tier competition.

"It would have kept a lot of clubs out of action for an extra two weeks. The two teams that get into the final, and arguably the semi-finals as well, because you'd have to bring them forward," McCarthy said.

"So we decided, that no, we would do it…but also, putting something up against the All-Ireland final, it’s not going to get the spotlight it deserves perhaps.

"Given that this is the first year, it’s a new competition, we wanted it to be a standalone as much as possible. The two All-Ireland finals are like the Super Bowl. They drown everything, don’t they?"

Much has been made of the GAA’s decision to split the early rounds into northern and southern sections, but McCarthy believes a draw that threw up games like Cavan and Down and Laois and Westmeath were sound justifications of such a move.

"That’s an argument," McCarthy answered when asked would an open draw have been a better option.

"But there’s also an argument of reigniting local rivalries. And so as a result of the draw, you now have Down and Cavan. You have Wexford and Offaly coming back to have a second tilt at each other. Repeat pairings, yeah, but there’s an excitement in it.

"The alternative might be, for instance, and I’ll take Waterford as