A motion to dispense with the All-Ireland senior hurling championship preliminary quarter-finals was passed at the GAA's Annual Congress earlier today.

Motion 6, which proposed scrapping the All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals and bringing in a new semi-final round in the Joe McDonagh Cup received a whopping 94.1% vote from delegates at Croke Park.

“One of the main goals introducing the Joe McDonagh Cup was to provide meaningful games against teams of a similar level,” stated Laois county board chairman PJ Kelly.

"Unfortunately, the preliminary quarter-finals have resulted in heavy defeats. Only one team from the Joe McDonagh Cup has won a preliminary quarter-final in 2019 - that was ourselves."

Carlow GAA chairman John McDonald, who seconded the motion, also commented: "We will be supporting the motion, and the semi-finals in the Joe McDonagh Cup will be healthy for the competition."

GAA Congress - Motion 6

To dispense with the All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals, and see the third-placed team in Leinster play the Munster runner-up, and vice versa PASSES with 94.1% of the vote. Motion 18 now withdrawn as a result.

— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 28, 2026

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