Counties will have a further opportunity this month to provide opinion on the document.

New GAA president Aogán Ó Fearghail said the majority of Munster chairmen have told him they support the idea of the calendar season in principle but have issues with aspects of the initiative. Insisting it was only a discussion paper, he said: “You have to be fair, a dual county does have a bigger issue. If you do have two major field games, it does tend to be that little bit trickier. They tend to be concentrated in Munster.”

Duffy conceded the calendar season may not now come in until 2017. “We are going to start a process very quickly in terms of getting feedback and so on. I wouldn’t say it’s definite. We are going to do this properly and slowly so it could take a year longer. But I am still confident we can do it because I think there is a goodwill towards it but counties do want some questions answered.”

There was surprise in Congress on Saturday when Wexford, who had originally and successfully proposed the clock/hooter five years ago, voiced their opposition to it.

They were among a number of counties who articulated their support for a motion to axe the system, which passed with 83% of the vote.

Duffy though admitted time-keeping is something that needs to be addressed. “The CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee) will look at that in terms of guidelines to referees, in terms of the time we play at the end of the game, that is their intention. There was no point doing that until today (the motion) was out of the way first so it can be addressed on that basis.”

Duffy was delighted the majority of the minor review committee’s motions were passed. The minimum age limits for underage players lining out at adult and U21 level were altered. Only over 17s will be allowed to play adult games at club level and must be over 18 to do so at inter-county level. For the U21 grade, players must be over 16 at club level and over 18 at inter-county level.

For this championships, teams must register their matchday panels before the Thursday morning prior to games or face penalties. U21 football teams may now not commence training until January 1 with U21 hurling sides only allowed to commence on March 1. A senior team found to have broken the winter training ban now faces losing home advantage for a league game.

In a year when clubs were permitted to recommend changes to the playing rules, just one motion of a significant note was passed: Down’s proposal to cancel yellow cards in extra-time. Tipperary’s five playing rules motions were all defeated.

On the advice of doctors, the GAA’s management committee weighed in against the concussion substitution rule, which was deferred to the organisation’s medical, scientific and welfare committee. “Concussion is not as big for us as other sports but it’s something we have to get right,” remarked Duffy.

In his inaugural address, Ó Fearghail took a thinly-veiled swipe at Joe Brolly for his recent comments in this newspaper about Duffy. “Unnecessarily and unfairly, some commentators have been criticising him personally and have been criticising his excellent work for this association. I would just like to say as an t-Uachtarán we won’t tolerate it, we won’t stand for it.”

He also spoke of a level playing field across the GAA. “In the GAA, there should be no elites. No group, whether you’re the president of the GAA or a fantastic county footballer or whether you’re the man who mows the grass, no group should feel ‘you’re the special one’. The chosen one. There are absolutely no elites in the GAA.

“When Seamus Heaney was 70, he invited many of his friends to a party. He didn’t write a poem about it but he delivered a fantastic speech. And at the end of the speech he told those that were gathered to hear him, “We should always keep our feet on the ground because then there’s nobody below you.”

Key motions: How they fared

(two-third majority required unless stated)

PASSED

* To prevent yellow cards from carrying into extra-time (74.9%)

* To introduce one versus one penalties in hurling (84.2%)

* To extend the five-second advantage rule to hurling (92.4%)

* To, from next year, grant Christy Ring Cup winners promotion to Liam MacCarthy Cup (76%)

* To limit the number of defenders on goal-line to five for a 20 metre free in hurling (93.1%)

* The disbandment of clock/hooters in championship matches (83%)

* To implement new collective training ban dates for U21 football and hurling and penalties for breaching them (69.3%)

* To order the naming of 26-man panels before Thursday 9am prior to SFC and SHC games (52.2%, simple majority required)

* To make Hawk-Eye permanent at Croke Park and other venues (98.6%)

* To change the minimum under-age grades: only over 17s can play adult club. Only over 18s can play inter-county adult. U21s at club level must be U21 and over 16. U21s at inter-county must be under 21 and over 18 (passed)

FAILED

* To introduce the black card to hurling (29%)

* To make U21 inter-county championships 35 minutes a half (55.7%)

* To add the facility of extra-time to all inter-county championship games at all grades (12.4%)

* To make the sliotar heavier and larger (9.1%)

* To ban goalkeepers from hand-passing the ball on receipt of a hand-pass in Gaelic football (35.6%)

* To ban a footballer from hand-passing the ball on receipt of a hand-pass (27.3%)

* To reduce the number of steps in hurling from four to three (32.4%)

* To introduce one versus three 20 metre penalties in hurling (48%)

* To authorise Central Council to open all county grounds for non-GAA games (37.9%)

* To give provinces the right to form their senior championships as they see fit (61.3%)

* To appoint one ex-referee as an umpire at each end in inter-county senior games (29.7%)

DEFERRED

* To introduce a concussion substitution rule (deferred to medical, scientific and welfare committee)