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23 Oct 2025

New bye law eliminates possibility of Offaly club having two teams in one championship

New bye law eliminates possibility of Offaly club having two teams in one championship

Pat Teehan, an influential member of the Bye Laws Committee.

A NEW bye law which rules out a club having two teams in the one championship was passed unanimously at Offaly GAA Convention on Tuesday night.

The bye law states very simply that “no club may have more than one team at each grade” and was out forward by a high powered committee to eliminate a possibility which occurred this year.

Kilcormac-Killoughey won both the Senior “B” and Senior Hurling Championship this year and under rule, could have fielded two teams in the top flight in 2024.

As things worked out, K-K had no appetite for having two teams in the one grade and emphatically ruled it out at their AGM.

However, the fact that the decision was theirs to make and if they wanted to field two teams in senior hurling, Offaly couldn't have stopped them, forced the County Boad to ensure it couldn't happen again.

A committee consisting of board officers, Colm Cummins, Brendan Minnock, Carina Carroll, Christy Todd and former chairman Pat Teeham examined the county's bye laws and made several alterations to existing ones as well as putting in new ones.

The motions to change the bye laws were submitted in the name of Colm Cummins's club, Edenderry and were passed without any discussion.

Most of them were fairly mundane with the one dealing with championship gradings the most interesting.

If K-K or someone else wins a championship next year and already has a team in the higher grade, it will give a get out of jail card to the relegated team who will then stay in the higher championship. While that in not in force for 2023, it is likely that the relegated senior hurling team, Seir Kieran will be given a reprieve in 2024 – the board will want to keep the Senior Hurling Championship to ten teams and it is unlikely that the beaten senior “B” finalists Clodiagh Gaels will have any desire for going up without winning their own championship.

Equally if a team loses a relegation final and already has a team had the lower grade, no relegation will take place from the higher grade for that year only – in senior hurling for example, that would give a get out clause to Kilcormac-Killoughey and Birr, the unlikely event of them being relegated and unless the lower grade team also makes the drop.

They also sanctioned a bye law to deal wih Kilcormac-Killoughey's situation where they now have a vast number of senior players and will need to regrade way more than the normal. This will be allowed in exceptional circumstrances.

There are also bye laws dealing with a new Demographics Officer, who will sit on the Management Committee, and the setting up of a Demographics Committee.

There is a bye law dealing with the parish rule and attachment to your first club, allowing breaches to occur in situations where clubs have an existing agreement approved by the County Board, such as Birr and Crinkle.

New Head of Operations, John Hackett will serve on the Management Committee in a non voting capacity while a recommendation by the Management Conmittee dealing with finance can only be overturned by a three fifths majority.

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