By John Harrington

Special Congress today voted to make some structural changes to the All-Ireland minor football and hurling championships.

From next year, tiered knock-out competitions will be a part of the All-Ireland minor football series.

Tier 1 will see the provincial winners play the provincial runners-up in the All-Ireland Quarter-Final with the pairings determined on a provincial rota system initially determined by Central Council. Provincial winners can’t play the team they defeated in their own provincial final.

A provincial rota system will also apply for the All-Ireland semi-finals. If a provincial championship winning team is defeated in its quarter-final, the team that defeats them takes their place in the provincial rota semi-final draw.

Additional tiered competitions can now also be organised for counties outside of the provincial winners and runners-up in order to provide more games and additional opportunities for those counties. The competition structures and regulations will be approved annually by Central Council based on proposals from the Development Competitions Control Committee.

From the 2024 season, the All-Ireland minor hurling series will see the Munster and Leinster winners advance directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals where they can’t meet the team they beat in the provincial finals.

Galway and Ulster teams as agreed by the Ulster and Leinster Councils would compete in the Leinster Minor Championship.

The third and fourth placed teams in Munster and Leinster will contest the preliminary quarter-finals with the two Munster teams playing the two Leinster teams. The winners of those matches will advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals where they will play the beaten Munster and Leinster finalists with the draw subject to the avoidance of repeat pairings where possible.

The All-Ireland ‘B’ and ‘C’ Hurling Championships will be organised on the basis of recommendations of the Development Competitions Control Committee, as approved by Central Council.