Protests and Presidential Election to Headline 2026 GAA Annual Congress at Croke Park, Dublin.
The GAA Annual Congress takes place this weekend at Croke Park, with major attention focused on the election of the next President of the Association and a planned protest outside the stadium on Saturday.
Presidential election (Friday night).
Three candidates will stand for election as President of the GAA on Friday evening:
Mr Ger Ryan (Tipperary) – served as Munster Chairman (2022 to 2025) and currently chairs the Central Referees Appointment Committee (CRAC), having also led several national committees including medical, scientific and welfare, and communications.
Mr Derek Kent (Wexford) – recently concluded a three-year term as Leinster Chairman and previously served as Head of the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).
John Murphy (Sligo) – a current GAA Trustee, former Connacht Chairperson (2021–2024), former Sligo County Board chair, and previously involved with the national infrastructure body.
Incumbent President Jarlath Burns will have completed two years of his three-year term at Congress. The successful candidate on Friday will take the role of Uachtarán Tofa (President Elect) and will have 12 months to prepare for the position.
Congress motions (25 in total).
Delegates will debate 25 motions over the weekend. Key proposals include:
- Extending the inter-county season, with the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final played on or before the second week in August, alongside a later start to the inter-county season (fourth Sunday of the year) and the effective removal of pre-season competitions.
- A Gaelic Players Association proposal to formalise a maximum of 30 competitive weekends for the inter-county season.
- A Clontarf GAA motion requiring players to have played eight club league/championship games in a season to be eligible to play inter-county the following year.
- A Laois proposal to end the format whereby Joe McDonagh Cup finalists progress to All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals in the Liam MacCarthy competition.
- A hurling discipline proposal that would see a dissent free moved forward 30 metres (or up to the opposition 20-metre line).
- A Central Council proposal for replays in provincial senior football finals if level after extra time.
- A Fermanagh proposal to restore minor finals as curtain-raisers on All-Ireland senior final day.
- A proposal to allow County Boards organise competitions down to 11-a-side to support clubs affected by depopulation.
- A proposal requiring County Boards to obtain a high-performance licence to enter teams in senior inter-county competitions.
Planned protest outside Croke Park (Saturday, 11:00am)
Separately, organisers have indicated a protest will take place outside Croke Park at 11:00am on Saturday opposing Allianz’s sponsorship of the GAA.
Those behind the demonstration have stated their opposition relates to Allianz’s corporate links and reference a United Nations Special Rapporteur report (June 2025) which named a number of companies, including Allianz through its German parent company, in the context of sustaining and financing Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories. Protest activity has also occurred at some recent league venues.
While nine counties passed motions calling for an end to sponsorship links, none of those motions are included on the official Congress agenda.
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