Kerry legend Pat Spillane has blasted the motion to stage the All-Ireland finals in both football and hurling in August.

Saturday's Congress saw the motion passed by a margin of 78%-22%, meaning that next year will be first time since 1903 that the GAA's showpiece games will be played before September. 

Speaking on RTE's Allianz League Sunday programme, the eight-time All-Ireland winner said that staging the finals in August would diminish Gaelic games and also be of benefit to other sports.

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous and stupid," Spillane stated.

"Do you know why? We're taking our main product - inter-county football - out of the shop window for five months, which gives a clear run to the other rivals sporting organisations. The rugby and soccer.

"At the moment, rugby is pretty much all year around. It's sexy, it's in, it's hot. It's what the youngsters want to play, it's drawing huge crowds.

"What drives a sport is the top teams, top players. Youngsters want to emulate them as role models.

"I think we're cutting off our nose to spite our face by taking the game out of the shop window for five months. I think we need more, rather than less.

"But I think if you bring all the stakeholders together, from club to county board, to county managers, to provincial, to central council, I think you could have a fixture, that both could go hand in hand."

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