Jarlath Burns believes the men’s All-Ireland senior hurling and football finals could be played in August from 2027.
Speaking on Tuesday at the launch of the 2025 All-Ireland senior hurling championship at the Faithful Fields in Offaly, the GAA president also admitted he would be in favour of drawn provincial finals going to replays instead of using penalty shoot-outs to produce a winner on the day.
In April, Burns conceded there would be no alteration to the scheduling of July All-Ireland finals for 2026 as commercial arrangements are already in place for concerts at Croke Park next summer.
But Burns, whose presidency ends in February 2027, would be in favour of bringing in a change that would see the hurling final played on the first weekend of August and the football decider on the third Sunday.
“Croke Park operates with regard to its priorities and how it does its business a year in advance. So, already, August 2026 is taken up,” said Burns. “That puts August 2027 into the mix.
“I’m around the country all the time, in clubs and counties every single day of the week, and the thing that I get most debate on are the timings of the All-Ireland finals.
“And there is a school of thought that is saying that the first and third weeks in August.
“You might have heard me saying that this isn’t going to happen during my presidency. The decision might be made during my presidency, but it might not actually occur during my presidency.
“But I am certainly open to the first and third weeks in August from 2027 on.
At the end of the day, we are a games organisation.”
A motion to push out the All-Ireland finals could be tabled at Special Congress on October 4th.
And Burns would also be in favour of replays for drawn provincial finals. Last Saturday’s Munster SHC decider was won by Cork after a penalty shoot-out win over Limerick.
A motion on reintroducing replays for deadlocked provincial finals was debated at this year’s Congress but was withdrawn for further consideration after delegates discussed the pros and cons of adding games to an already congested structure.
“At the end of this championship, because it’s a three-year phase, we’re going to review all aspects of it,” added Burns.
“I agree with the split-season but I definitely think that any review should consider the possibility of replays, particularly in provincial finals.
“I just think that was such a game of drama [Cork v Limerick], it was just a pity the way it ended. The Armagh-Donegal Ulster football final could have gone the same way for the third year in a row, so I’m totally in favour of replays.
“You don’t have to talk to me above anybody else about replays and provincial finals. We’ve lost three now, two quarter-finals, on penalties. I would be very much in favour of replays where at all possible.”
However, to allow for the possibility of replays in this current format then something would have to be sacrificed and that might yet be the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.
Currently, the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists play the third placed team from the group stages of the Leinster and Munster Championships.
“The counties themselves who would be in that position have always come back and said, ‘No, this preliminary quarter-final means an awful lot to our team and our county, and we want to keep it.’
“If you do away with the preliminary quarter-finals there are advantages to that because you could stretch out the Joe McDonagh Cup and you could make that a longer competition.
“There are lots of considerations there but certainly I’d be open to doing whatever has to be done to get replays in for provincial finals.
“Whenever we used to have replays, people gave off to the GAA that we were just doing it for the financial gain. And now we have stopped replays to allow for the club season we’re getting, not criticism, but debate over it.
“The GAA do not take these decisions lightly. They are all voted on. We’re a very democratic organisation and if people want to change it, we’ll be in favour of that.”
The GAA has also set up a ticketing work group to examine the possibility of dynamic ticket pricing in the future.
“They’re going to produce a report for us on our ticketing structure, on what works, what doesn’t work,” said Burns.
“I just think if we can show imagination, particularly if you are in a situation in Croke Park where there’s going to be 40,000 empty seats, let’s prioritise filling those seats in whatever way we can. So that’s the sort of things that they’re looking at.”
And Burns says no firm call has been made on the International Rules returning later this year given the possible impact it could have on the club season.
“We haven’t really made any decision on that. We have a management meeting on Friday night and that’s on the agenda.
“Personally, I would love to see the International Rules back, the players would love to see it back, but we have to be very careful about the consequences of bringing it back.”
