On Gaelic Games:John Costello, the Dublin County Board chief executive, across whose weary desk UCD frequently makes it scholarly way, was fairly sure that the latest move against the college's participation in the county championship wasn't motivated by general hostility towards third-level colleges.

The validity of the question lay in the increasing tetchiness aroused this year by the same colleges' involvement in the secondary provincial competitions that take place at this time of the year, as well as the attempt to rid Dublin of the allegedly iniquitous presence of universities and other third-level institutions.

Costello may have been right in denying any prejudice, but the higher-education sector wouldn't have to be neurotic to feel that their contribution to Gaelic games is less than cherished.

There are a few reasons for this. Different sports emphasise different arenas. It's a long-standing gripe of GAA members that schools rugby - and especially in Leinster (or effectively Dublin) - gets disproportionate media coverage.

Without expending space on that particular debate, it's worth bearing in mind that schools traditionally occupy a far more prominent place in rugby than they do in other sports. For a long time second- and third-level education was effectively the only nursery the sport had in Ireland.

Clubs weren't the cradle-to-grave experience they are within the GAA and consequently there was no great fuss over players spending a few years with UCD, Trinity or wherever before opting for a club, a choice often based more on where someone had been at school than on locality. Within the GAA it's different, and third-level colleges have become regarded as some sort of cuckoo in the nest, exploiting their circumstances unfairly to distort county championships and, latterly, the preparations of counties for National League activity.

It's not yet clear whether the motion from the St Vincent's club will be deemed in order for the coming county board meeting, but it does seem unusual that as radical a move as the exclusion of certain teams from county championship should be raised at an ordinary meeting as opposed to at the GAA annual congress or even at county convention.

To be fair, the whole question of third-level colleges' participation had been considered among other eligibility issues by Liam O'Neill's sub-committee last year, but its proposals - essentially to maintain the status quo - were effectively buried before congress. Some restrictions were placed on college teams through motions from elsewhere, and the ability of graduates to play for a bonus year was abolished whereas the possibility of a talented entrant representing his college in that year's county championships (given their increasingly common late running) was eliminated.

In relation to intercounty competitions, the participation of colleges was purely a practical matter. With the National Leagues, Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups all imminent at this time of the year, it had become practice for counties and colleges to organise challenge matches in January.

The opening of the O'Byrne, Walsh, McKenna and other cups to third-level teams simply recognised that reality.

Mickey Harte's decision to field players who had already been picked in college panels was contrary to the competition rules and based on Tyrone's singular priorities (not playing any challenge matches and chasing the McKenna Cup), but not all of his peers take the same view.

The problem with the Tyrone controversy and, to an extent, with the complaints voiced by other counties is that the whole format that has been running for the past few years depends on no one getting too exercised over it. As soon as disgruntlement sets in, you suspect that the end may be on the horizon.

In the case of county championships, and Dublin's in particular, the dissatisfaction with the colleges' presence has more fundamental consequences. Some of the college teams have been contesting the county championship since decades ago and in the case of Erin's Hope (St Patrick's in Drumcondra) since the century before last.

Virtually all competition within the GAA is a lottery. Moving around from club to club or even county to county is frowned on, so players are stuck - often happily or at least willingly - with the teams they're on. A great footballer from Kilkenny almost certainly won't realise his potential; ditto a great hurler in Armagh.

There is nothing in UCD's current manifestation that makes it a fundamentally different presence from what it has always been in Dublin - apart from the new prohibition on eternal students, who used to play a prominent part in college teams of bygone eras.

The availability of scholarships is an irrelevance, as the sums of money involved are trivial with bursaries in UCD averaging less than €1,000 per annum for the 39 students listed on the scheme (total value: €36,700).

This isn't to suggest that the position is completely satisfactory. Not even the colleges' most convinced advocates are unanimous about the desirability of dual eligibility whereby players can contest two county championships - their own and their college's.

Resolving the situation isn't easy, however. If students are asked to opt for one championship, probably around 90 per cent will do so for their home county, but the ones who don't will still be the cause of griping. One answer might be to allow dual status for members of junior clubs but not at senior level.

Dublin is an anomaly in hurling because of the low standard in the county, as reflected in the Leinster club championship track record. UCD are the only recent champions to make an impact in the province.

Among the arguments intended to support the college's expulsion from the county championship is the allegedly negligible contribution third level makes to the GAA in Dublin.

This is unfair on a couple of counts. When UCD tried to tie county championship commitment into the terms of scholarships, a number of clubs went ballistic because their players were being extorted into abandoning their natural allegiance, albeit only in the short term. The idea was dropped.

It is sometimes forgotten that UCD operates under the considerable constraint of requiring adherence to CAO requirements. You can be talented, but unless you have the points it's not enough.

It's also worth remembering that even if Dublin players haven't been plentiful in UCD in the last couple of years, the current county senior footballers are overwhelmingly made up of players who have played Sigerson elsewhere, and with the recent under-age successes it would be expected that the county will have a presence on rising Fitzgibbon teams.

Unhappiness with the colleges isn't confined to Dublin and within Dublin it isn't confined to UCD, but that institution has become the lightning rod because of its relative success. It's time that regulations governing the place of third-level colleges in the GAA are formulated and nailed down at congress. They should value the contribution they make, especially now that over 50 per cent of the population go on to further education, and they should recognise the sector's traditions.

Simply expelling clubs does neither.