Last year I was given a letter addressed to the Gaelic Football club at Queen's University, and opened it to reveal a personal apology from the former Meath great Gerry McEntee to the ledgenary Sean O'Neill that unfortunately he would not be making Sigerson weekend 2007.

A friendship had been formed many years before that, which had stood the test of time when rules were rules, and real Universities were the only ones allowed to compete in the unique competition. It is now safe to say that the Sigerson cup is once again turning into a complete farce.

Not for the first time in its history, controversy surrounds the blue riband event of Inter-varsity sport in Ireland, and yet again it centres on player eligibility. Nobody knows better than me the unique place and history this competition plays within the GAA. From its very inception at the beginning of the 20th century the competition has played a vital role within our association, in developing the stars of the future. It is no coincidence that when the cup first came north in 1959 to Queen's, Sean O'Neill was the star player, and by 1960 he was leading the Down team that would first carry Sam across the unlawful frontier.

So many Ulster greats have followed in O'Neills footsteps; Kieran McGeeney, DJ Kane, Anthony Tohill, Jarlath Burns, Wee James and Eugene McKenna to name a few, showing the competitions' importance in the development of any gaelic footballer.

But since the mid-90's the competition has become a joke. The introduction of Polytechnics, Institutes of Technology and professional Training Colleges has took away the once abided-by cut and thrust rules that surround the event. Many may take exception to my this, considering my involvement over the last few years in the competition as a university sabbatical officer, but the rules allow for this - maybe that too is wrong and it is time to revisit this to finally put an end to these constant problems.

In the last ten years, question after question has been asked about this college and that college playing this player and that player. Of the four traditional colleges; QUB, UCD, NUIG AND UCC, only really Queen's since the turn of the decade have made an impression on the competition. That tells its own story. The late-90's seen the competition change so much as ethnics seemed to go out the window, when it seemed that IT Tralee under Val Andrews were buying Sigerson cups. It would now appear any Tom, Dick and Harry can win a Sigerson medal regardless of their student status.

By the start of the new millenium, Sligo IT had adapted the Tralee idea and have been successful on two different occasions. In recent times DCU have been investigated on the grounds of player eligibility, and this week's events surrounding the Garda once again highlights the need for the GAA and the Higher Education Council to tackle this issue with immediate effect.

For me, what needs to happen is the areas around 'placement student' and 'sabbatical officers' (like I was) needs to be made clear. Players' name, date of birth and student numbers need to be signed off by all Universities Presidents or Vice Chancellors by the third week of term. If you're not in that's tough luck.

Training colleges (ie Cadets and Gardas) and IT's need to be removed altogether into separate competitions, and random spot checks need to be done at all games throughout the year. Some have suggested an age limit, but this could be seen by many - especially with so many mature students now attending universities across the country - as discrimination. There is no place for bending the rules in the modern association, and any institution that does this need to be removed for good.

If I had my way, the competition would only be open to eleven Universities, namely QUB, UUJ, St Marys' University College, UCD, Trinity, DCU, NUIG, NUI, Maynooth, Univerity of Limerick and University College Cork, played over a three or four day weekend in the first weekend in March, alternating between Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway. This is what happens in hockey and various other Inter-varsity sports, why can't it happened in Ireland's largest and most historic Third Level competition.

We need clarity on the rules, we need changes in the running order and management of the competition and we need it fast. This weeks events have once again devalued the competition and if this issue is not resolved quickly between the IT's and Training Colleges, the real universities will win what now seems to be a meaningless competition, with prime-time live TV coverage lost.

I just hope the GAA get the finger out, as it seems that in years to come those friendships talked about above may be a thing of the past, and one of the Association's traditionally classical weekends may be lost forever.