Despite the claims from many corners that it was unfair, the motion to have Dublin be limited to playing one Super 8 game at Croke Park has been defeated. While many had expected Donegal's proposal to be passed, it was heavily defeated, receiving only 36% of the vote.
It is a move many claim was motivated by money, with the GAA's income boosted by an extra game featuring the Dubs in the national stadium. Having Dublin play two home games while every other team is restricted to one would seem to be clearly unfair, and it is difficult to argue that this was purely a financial decision.
Former Roscommon manager Kevin McStay certainly seems to hold that opinion. Speaking on RTE Radio 1 today, he expressed his disappointment that the motion had been defeated:
It's very disappointing from my perspective. I'd have seen it as a motion that was demanding fair play, nothing more, nothing less than that. It was well beaten so Dublin now continue to play two matches in Croke Park.
This is the the essence of it. Last year in the Championship there was a game played in Newbridge with, I don't know, about 4,000 people.
I was involved as Roscommon manager when we said as a group there was absolutely no way we were not playing our game in Dr Hyde Park (the Connacht final v Galway in 2018) with a reduced capacity. We dug our heels in on that and the game went ahead.
I don't see any reason why the Dublin game cannot be in Parnell Park.
There was precedence and yet we go back to this idea of a loss of revenue and the grants being affected if the big money Dublin bring in to Croke Park isn't available to stream down the counties.
They go to such lengths, the GAA, to say 'it's not about money, it's about the club, it's the county units'. Then we see this action.
Many voices from within the GAA claim it would be unfair to move the game out of Croke Park, as a smaller venue would see a number of supporters miss out on tickets. McStay doesn't really give any credence to that argument either:
What happens if Halifax Town are playing Manchester United in round six of the FA Cup? There's live TV now. Nobody will not get to see the game.
Mayo, the second best supported team in the country, we had to go to Newbridge. So many thousands of people didn't get to see that game at the time in St Conleth's Park. You get on with it.
I think most people would agree that this was about fairness. In the last eight, the elite level of the game, a county plays two games in Croke Park, essentially a home venue. No other county in the Super 8s has that possibility.
There's one rule obviously for Dublin and one for the other counties. That would be my position. I don't agree with it because I don't think it was fair.
While this motion has been defeated, we certainly have not heard the last of this issue.
