The GAA’s annual Congress in Croke Park on Saturday morning overwhelmingly backed a joint Kerry and Munster motion to facilitate the Kerry hurlers’ passage to the Munster championship in the event that they win the Joe McDonagh Cup.
he motion – which passed by a margin of 98.2% to 1.8% – ends the anomaly whereby Kerry were required to play-off against the bottom placed side in the Munster championship to secure an entry into the provincial series.
It contrasted with every other county in the Joe McDonagh Cup who were automatically guaranteed a place in the Leinster championship should they win the second tier championship.
The Leinster championship currently has six teams involved every season and Munster five. In the event of Kerry winning the Joe McDonagh Cup now that balance would switch with six in Munster and five in Leinster.
The new rule passed at Congress on Saturday morning stipulates that “the team finishing bottom in the six team round robin will be relegated to the Joe McDonagh Cup. The team that wins Tier Two will play in its home province if Munster, if not they play in Leinster.”
