Two of GAA's top officials have called for the Railway Cup to be scrapped.

Leinster secretary Michael Delaney and his Connacht counterpart John Prenty have both said that the interprovincial competitions have outlived their usefulness.

Both men made similar calls in their annual reports last year.

Their views were supported by the GAA's Games Administration Committee but the more powerful Central Council decided to play the competitions last November.

Prenty in his latest annual report says that the "public has given the competition a massive thumbs down".

Delaney claims that the competitions "should be allowed to die".

Steady decline

"Perhaps the provinces themselves might be a little more active in this matter," added the Leinster secretary.

Leinster are the holders of the football Railway Cup, while Munster hold the hurling crown. Next year's competition is due to begin on 3 November.

The interprovincial competitions have been in steady decline since their heyday of the 1950s and '60s.

The AIB Club Championships Finals now occupy the St Patrick's Day date which used to host the Railway Cup deciders.

However, the Railway Cup was in free-fall long before the Club Championships were given the 17 March date.

Donegal man Brian McEniff has managed Ulster to 10 of the last 19 Railway Cup football titles.