ULSTER Council president Oliver Galligan is hoping a way can be found to restore the north’s universities to the Dr McKenna Cup.
The colleges will not be part of the 2020 competition, due to changes in the fixtures calendar which have seen the Sigerson Cup brought forward to a new mid-January slot.
But Galligan has extended a hand of welcome to Queen’s, Ulster University and St Mary’s, hoping they can re-join the series should changing circumstances allow.
“Things change very quickly in the GAA, so hopefully we can get them back, maybe next year,” he said.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. It was very successful, but the way fixtures have come this year, it’s just not possible to have them in there.”
The Ulster Council, faced with the enforced departure of the universities following an involvement spanning a decade and a half, did attempt to provide an accommodation which could have kept them in the series.
An option to start the competition in mid-December was proposed, with the county boards and team management of the nine Ulster counties given the final say.
They voted to stick with the established arrangement, with the series to start on the last weekend of December, continuing through January, a decision which forced the departure of the college teams.
And that means the counties will lose a fixture, with the group stage providing just two games for each team.
While the Dr McKenna Cup will get under way on Sunday December 29, Donegal, Antrim and Tyrone will have to wait until Sunday January 5 for their opening tie.
And for three other counties (Derry, Down and Armagh), there will be a ten-day gap between their first two games – that in a competition set to be played off in a time-span of less than three weeks.
“Of course we have enjoyed the colleges, they added an awful lot to it, and as well as that, they put that extra three teams into it, which gave is twelve teams,” said Galligan.
But he insisted the McKenna Cup will continue to be a vital pre-season exercise for its remaining nine participants.
“It’s a competitive competition, the counties use it to blood new players and to get them into the mode for the league, which is coming up very soon afterwards.
“And there’s a lot of important games in the league, particularly for Ulster teams, so in that sense the McKenna Cup is a very important competition.
“There’s no time for challenge matches, no time for looking at players, this is the only chance manager are going to have to look at new players in particular.
“And we’re going to have clubs involved in the Club Championships as well, so those players aren’t available.”
Hurling’s Conor McGurk Cup is already under way, providing a similar pre-season outlet for county and college teams preparing for mainstream campaigns in 2020.
“It’s a great competition, and we have Longford and Louth in this year as well, and that adds to it,” said the Ulster Council president.
“It’s about getting fellows ready for the National League. And the universities are there as well, and we’re delighted to have all those teams in it.”
