Burns praises CCCC following McGuinness criticism

GAA President Jarlath Burns has praised the work of the CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee) after criticism was voiced over selection of neutral venues at the weekend.

Last Sunday, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness hit out at the decision to fix their game against Mayo for Dr Hyde Park in Roscommon, branding the decision "unfair" and suggesting that their opponents would not have been made to travel that distance.

Speaking after the preliminary quarter-final draw on RTÉ's Morning Ireland on Monday, CCCC chief Brian Carroll defended their choice of venues and outlined the considerations that had to be weighed when selecting appropriate grounds.

In his address to the media at the launch of the knockout phase of the All-Ireland football championship in Croke Park, Burns, without referencing any manager's comments directly, singled out the CCCC for particular praise.

"I think they do an incredible job," Burns said. "I think they are amazing people and I just thought that it was important to put on record my appreciation and thanks for the work that they do in very complex circumstances.

"I was on the way back (from the Tailteann Cup quarter-final draw) in the car with Bernard Smith (Games Administration Manager).

"He took seven phone calls from counties asking for clarification on this, asking for a favour there, asking that they could play at a particular time. And I think every one of those requests was met.

"Whenever fixtures are being made, there are so, so many things that they have to take into consideration, particularly with regard to neutral venues."

Jim McGuinness criticised the decision to fix the Donegal-Mayo game for Hyde Park

Burns went on to say that every decision around venues was taken to ensure there was no hint of bias.

"You guys (the media) know our CCCC and you know how hard they work to ensure that everything is done to the best of their ability to ensure safety and to ensure that there's no bias and to do the best that they can for all of our teams."

Following Monday's draw, Carroll specifically defended the choice of Hyde Park following McGuinness' comments, noting that the obvious venue, Markievicz Park, was ruled out due to ongoing maintenance work on the pitch.

" Breffni Park wasn't available - Cavan were playing at the same time," Carroll said. "Clones wasn't available because Monaghan were playing two hours earlier in the day and Omagh wasn't available because Tyrone were playing at the same time."

Also at the launch, Burns said that the changes made by the Football Review Committee had re-invigorated Gaelic football as a spectacle, pointing to attendance figures for the group stage which show a 21% increase when compared with the 2024 group stages.

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