The Club Players' Association (CPA) has held talks with both the GAA and GPA over reform of the playing schedule.

Set up earlier this year, the CPA is calling for tighter schedules for the inter-county leagues and championships, blocks of 'club only' time in the calendar and formalised regulation and enforcement of fixtures.

The CPA failed to gain formal recognition from the GAA at Congress in February, but the Association has now engaged with the players' body which claims to have a membership of over 20,000.

A statement issued by the CPA reads:

We had constructive discussions with senior officials in Croke Park to set out the CPA's detailed Fixture planning proposals. 

This was with the aim of establishing common ground and agreeing some basic principles for fixture planning at national, provincial and county level. All are interlinked so an overall approach that helps each of these is essential in our opinion. 

The discussions were frank and there will be further engagement in the coming weeks. Our briefing covered CPA fixtures options of which there are several approaches, and our draft principles for fixture planning. We have also met with the GPA with the aim of engaging the widest possible playing population.

Among the key areas in which we are seeking development, on behalf of club players across all codes and counties, are:

• Changes on the timings and duration of the national league competitions
• Guaranteed periods of 'club only' matches during the season
• Movement towards a single calendar year for club competitions
• Equal status for hurling in fixtures and season planning
• Tighter timeframe for provincial championships
• Fixtures enshrined in Rule and enforced properly
• Movement towards tiered championships
• Consultation with wider GAA membership on season planning

We believe progress in each of these areas will ease the Fixtures burden.

We believe that we can engage directly with our members through surveying and direct communication to gauge the response to some of the more difficult issues we face to help shape decision making.

We need to give members an opportunity for their voice to be heard.

We firmly believe that the GAA must proactively consider the playing load on players; the attendant training commitments and the physical and other consequences of too many or too few games. 

Player welfare has been the basis of the CPA since Day One. Our players are the most important part of the GAA.

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