Jarlath Burns vows to fullfil his commitments to 'nuisance' Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups

GAA president Jarlath Burns has pledged to find a “proper place” in the calendar for the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups.

The flagship third level competitions in football and hurling are generally played in the months of January and February, cutting across the pre-season inter-county competitions and the early rounds of the Allianz Leagues.

It means that players are often expected to play three games in a week, with Meath boss Colm O’Rourke in particular bemoaning the “unfair” schedule that his players were faced with earlier this year, pointing out how some played seven games in a 20-day period.

Read more: Jarlath Burns insists the modern GAA is no longer a cold house for unionists

There have been calls for the competitions to be played pre-Christmas and/or without inter-county players.

Speaking at the launch of the MIC Gaelic Games Club at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick, Burns, a Sigerson Cup winner with St Mary’s, Belfast in 1989, described the view of the third level championships as an “unrequited love”.

He said: “Many other sports would give their right hand to have the footprint that the GAA has in our colleges and universities.

“But for the GAA, we have almost seen it in our master fixtures plan as being a nuisance. Where can we fit the Fitzgibbon and the Sigerson? Could we ask the students who are county players not to play for their Colleges?

“This is a terrible indictment of us and one of the plans I have for the Amateur Status Committee is to give a proper place to the Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups in the calendar to allow those players – many of whom have scholarships from their colleges or provincial councils – to play and enjoy themselves.

“That’s a commitment I have given to Higher Education that I really want to fulfil.”

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