The Tailteann Cup semi-finals between Sligo and Down and Antrim and Laois are scheduled to be played on Sunday next as a double bill in Croke Park.
The All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals between Clare and Wexford and Cork and Dublin are due to be played on a double bill on Saturday in Semple Stadium, Thurles.
But the GAA hierarchy now want the hurling quarter-finals to be played on next Sunday with the Tailteann Cup semi-finals to be played on Saturday.
In an email sent to his other County Board chairs, Carroll said the Sligo Board “are utterly disgusted” that the entire rationale for the Tailteann Cup “may be pushed aside” and “without consultation” to “facilitate a request for a change of date for the All-Ireland hurling quarter finals, a request that we understand includes the assertion that this should happen because the Tailteann Cup is a Tier 2 competition.”
The email added: “The proposed change of day and time for those hurling quarter finals will afford a benefit, possibly, to four counties – who are established in that sport – that will be forgotten a week later.
“By contrast, if it were to come to pass, the act of shunting the Tailteann Cup semi-finals away from that celebrated Sunday slot sends a resounding signal to all that the Tailteann Cup is indeed just an afterthought in the GAA calendar as sceptics have claimed.
“The competition is anything but an afterthought for literally half the Association. Realistically though, if this change goes through, how can any of us demand of the media and others that they respect the competition given that the Association itself is willing to move it aside at the whim of a few.
“This decision, if it is followed through, is thoroughly disrespectful to all those who have participated in and supported the Tailteann Cup or who – even if not involved themselves – have advocated for the opportunity for others to do so.
“It also sends a terrible message about the willingness of the Association to support change, even when there is clear evidence – such as our experiences last evening (when they beat Limerick in the quarter final) – that the change concerned is a positive one for the Association.
“We appreciate that this may seem like a small thing but ultimately actions speak louder than words. This proposed change of days would not be the actions of an organisation that says that this is a place ‘Where we all belong’.”
Carroll has appealed to his colleagues to ‘resist this move’ and appealed to delegates to “use their vote to ensure that the Sunday slot for the Tailteann Cup in unchanged.”
Wexford hurlers formally requested that their quarter-final against Clare be switched to Sunday because they were hosting the Feile na nGael national hurling festival on Sunday.
The football version of the Feile na nGael festival is also taking place next weekend in Connacht with a number of Sligo clubs hosting teams.
There was widespread criticism of the original plan for the hurling quarter-finals as they are scheduled for a lunchtime throw-in on Saturday in order to avoid a clash with the live TV coverage of the URC final. No Irish team will be involved in next Saturday’s final following the defeat of Leinster and Munster in Saturday’s semi-finals.
It is understood that GAA President Jarlath Burns came under pressure to flip the fixtures at meetings in the last week with officers of the Munster and Leinster GAA Council to discuss tweaking the 2025 championship format.
The expectation is that despite Sligo’s protests, the Central Council at a zoom meeting on Sunday evening will flip the fixtures with the hurling quarter-finals getting the prime time Sunday slot.
