THE GAA won’t be tolerating any softening of attitudes on the use of club grounds for so-called foreign sports, with the Wexford club Faythe Harriers now under investigation for reportedly allowing a local soccer team train on the all-weather pitch at their Páirc Carman facility.

GAA president Christy Cooney yesterday confirmed the matter was being addressed by Wexford County Board, who are due to report to the Leinster Council by the end of the week, and warned that any such breaches of this rule will be taken very seriously.

“We have a situation whereby we have a report which indicates that grounds which are the property of Faythe Harriers are being used for other sports,” said Cooney.

“We have asked, through the Leinster Council, for the Wexford County Board to investigate the matter and after we receive that report we will see where we will go from there.

“But as I’ve said many times before, if people are unhappy with this rule the only way that it can be changed is to bring a motion to congress to have it changed.

“That has not happened, and so the rule remains. So we have a responsibility to enforce this rule. It’s part of my responsibility to deal with it and we will do that.”

Although Central Council still have the power to allow soccer or rugby to be played at Croke Park, the relevant rule (historically rule 42, currently rule 5.1) still applies to all other GAA grounds, and as far as Cooney understands, there is no great appetite to change that.

“I don’t think it’s outdated because we have invested a lot of money in these club grounds, specifically for the use of Gaelic games. That is where our rules apply and that is where our responsibilities rest.

“Other sports have their own grounds and it’s their responsibility to use those grounds. We are not there to provide facilities for other sports. We made an exception for the use of Croke Park and everyone knows the reason for that.

“It was made perfectly clear at the time club grounds were not to be touched under any circumstances and that still applies. This has been made abundantly clear to all clubs, and they received notice of same. So there is no ambiguity whatsoever.”

Earlier this year, Cork’s Nemo Rangers escaped with a warning after reports the Irish rugby team trained at their Trabeg Sports Centre. However, Cooney explained there are sanctions within the GAA structure to deal with any breach of this rule.

“We will await the report from the Wexford board, and then we will do what is appropriate. But I’m not going to pre-judge a situation, because we have to check the facts. The report may be true or it may not be true. So we have to be fair and balanced on that.”

Cooney was speaking in UCD yesterday at the draws for the 2011 third level competitions, sponsored by Ulster Bank, including the centenary Sigerson Cup – the finals of which will be hosted by UCD next March.

The format of that competition has changed with all three concluding rounds – quarter-finals, semi-finals and final – played over three consecutive days, on the first weekend in March.

UCD, as the 11 hosts, were automatically put through to the quarter-finals of the competition. There they will be joined by the seven winners of the first round matches. 2009 champions Cork IT were paired with UUJ in what is arguably the most exciting draw of the opening round, while reigning champions DCU will begin their title defence at home to St Mary’s, Belfast.

In the Fitzgibbon Cup, hosts Waterford IT will have to navigate their way out of a group containing UCD and Limerick IT to make it to the quarter-final stages, while reigning champions NUI Galway also face tough opposition in the form of DIT and CIT.

2011 Higher Education Championship Draws Football and Hurling

Sigerson Cup

(all matches 2pm – as hosts, UCD get bye to quarter-final stage)

Round One (February 17th, home team first unless stated) – UUJ v Cork IT, neutral venue; DIT v UL; UCC v GMIT; Carlow IT v Athlone IT; IT Sligo v NUI Galway; DCU v St Mary’s, Belfast; NUIM v QUB. Quarter-finals (March 3rd, all at Belfield) – NUIG/IT Sligo v UCD; DCU/St Mary’s v UCC/GMIT; NUI M/QUB v DIT/UL; AIT/ Carlow IT v CIT/UUJ. Semi-finals (March 4th, Belfield) – NUIG/IT Sligo/UCD v DCU/St Mary’s/UCC/GMIT; NUI M/QUB/DIT/UL v AIT/Carlow IT/CIT/UUJ. Final (March 5th, at Belfield).

Trench Cup

Round One (February 2nd, home team first) – UUC v NCI; GMIT Letterfrack v MICL. Round Two (February 9th, home team first) – Waterford IT v The Law School; St Pat’s TC v Limerick IT; IT Tallaght v TCD; BMC v GMIT Letterfrack/MICL; UUC/NCI v Letterkenny IT; IT Tralee v Dundalk IT. Quarter-finals (February 17th) – A: St Pat’s TC/Limerick IT v UUC/NCI/Letterkenny IT; B: IT Tralee/Dundalk IT v IT Tallaght/NCI; C: Waterford IT/The Law School v BMC/ GMIT Letterfrack/MICL. Semi-finals (March 4th, Belfield) – British winners v A; B v C.

Final (March 5th, Belfield).

Fitzgibbon Cup

(all matches 2pm. Four groups of three teams, with top two in each group qualifying for quarter-finals. Top team in each group gets home draw in quarter final)

Group A – 1 Waterford IT, 2 UCD, 3 Limerick IT. Group B – 1 NUI Galway, 2 Cork IT, 3 DIT. Group C – 1 St Pat’s/Mater Dei, 2 UUJ, 3 GMIT. Group D – 1 UL, 2 UCC, 3 DCU.

Round One (January 27th) – Team 1 v Team 2. Round Two (February 2nd) – Team 3 v Team 1. Round Three (February 8th) – Team 2 v Team 3. Quarter-finals (February 15th, first team at home) – i Winner A v Runner-up B; ii Winner B v Runner-up C; iii Winner C V Runner-up D; iv Winner D V Runner-up A. Semi-finals (February 25th, in Waterford) – i v iii; ii v iv.

Final (February 26th, in Waterford).

Ryan Cup

(all matches 2pm. Two groups of four, with top two qualifying for semi-finals, along with Napier University. Also one group of three, with top two meeting again in quarter-final)

Group A – 1 QUB, 2 MICL, 3 GMIT, Letterfrack, 4 Tipperary Institute. Group B – 1 TCD, 2 IT Sligo, 3 St Mary’s/BMC, 4 IT Tralee. Group C – 1 Carlow IT, 2 Athlone IT, 3 NUI Maynooth.

Round One (January 27th) – Team 1 v Team 2, Groups A B: Team 4 v Team 3. Round Two (Feb 2nd) – Team 3 v Team 1, Groups A B: Team 2 v Team 4. Round Three (February 8th) – Team 2 v Team 3, Groups A B: Team 1 v Team 4. Quarter-finals (February 15th, first team at home) – i Winner A v Runner-up B; ii Winner B v Runner-up C; iii Winner C V Runner-up A. Semi-finals (February 25th, in Waterford) – i v ii; iii v Napier.

Final – (February 26th, in Waterford).

* For details of draws for Corn na Mac Léinn, Further Education Championship and Fergal Maher Cup see irishtimes.com/gaa