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While the pros and cons of the "Pay for Play" issue are getting a good airing at the moment, there are a number of other related issues GAA members everywhere should carefully consider.
For me, the fact is that it becoming increasingly harder for players who are not from the salaried classes or who are not students at some third level institution to play at IC level comes top of the list.
I think problems start to arise with u21 players and get worse when the players in question move up to senior level. There is plenty of talk about 'burnout' alright but nothing tangible is being done about it.
Players at college may be asked to play for club, college and the county u21 and senior sides, whereas the first consideration at all times should be to allow them time and opportunity to complete their studies. Many talented young footballers, on leaving second level schools, do not continue their education but go looking for jobs instead. For the vast majority of them, the issue of "Pay for Play" will never arise because they will never have the chance to play to the standards required.

Every county board in the country is doing its best to provide its players with facilities to rival or better those of any other sport, amateur or professional. The GAA provides its members with the best facilities of any sport in the country without exception. Moreover, the standards are improving all the time- but the relentless drive for professionalism in all but name brings its own problems with it.
How many farmers, plasterers, van drivers or other individuals who do any sort of manual work are to be found playing IC football or hurling? Damn few, I would imagine. You are hardly going to find many from the ranks of shift workers or the unemployed either.
I think it was Sean Og who once said that IC players are expected to live and behave like the monks of old for the greater part of the year. (Maybe behaving like them in all respects mightn't be such a good idea but I know what he meant.)
Can anything be done to lessen the demands being made on players' time and resources and bring a touch of democracy back to the IC scene?

It was reported in the Star yesterday that Dermot Earley, the Chief of Staff of the Irish army may be forced to retire on health grounds. Dermot, who was only promoted to this post within the last couple of years, has been unable to work since Christmas and it appears unlikely that he will be able to return to work.
Readers here may recall that Dermot, from Roascommon, was highly placed in the list of football's top 100 players that was presented by Martin Breheny in the Indo some months ago.
He is the holder of five Connacht Senior medals, two All Star Awards, one National League medal (1979), one U21 All Ireland Medal (1966), an All Ireland runners-up Medal (1980) and two Railway Cup Medals.
He was a few years my senior at St Nath'y College, Ballaghadereen and even back then he stood out from the crowd as a brilliant footballer and a popular and well-respected individual.
I am shocked and saddened to hear of his illness and can only wish him the very best.
I doubt if there is anyone anywhere who would feel otherwise; as a sportsman and a gentleman he has been extra special.

What happened at the Tesco store in Antrim last Sunday has set me thinking.
The GAA has announced a policy of promoting inclusiveness for all and that surely includes Councillor Adrian Watson and those of similar outlook.
ASFAIK, the Ulster Council has taken on the task of exploring ways of establishing contact with members of the Unionist community with a view to inviting recruits from that quarter.
Is it an imitative that should be supported and fostered or is it destined to end in inevitable failure?
In the light of what happened in Antrim town, I'd be interested in finding out what board members think of the chances of the Association developing a fresh source of recruits from across the traditional divide.
Is the venture worth the effort that will be involved or should the idea be dismissed out of hand?
Just how should one go about the process of engagement and at whom should the approaches be aimed?
I presume Adrian Watson won't react positively to any such approach; are there many others who probably will spurn the outstretched hand of friendship?
Do committed GAA supporters, especially in the six counties of Ulster, welcome an influx of non-Nationalists?
Indeed, does the average GAA fan welcome the possible arrival of non-nationals of any sort and what would the GAA need to change to make the Association attractive to others to get them to come on board.
Very few, possibly only the inimitable EG, have brought up the subject on the board but I'm sure many more have opinions on the subject.
I'd love to hear from as many as possible, including of course members of the 'cavalry.'

Last but by no means least:
The following is an excerpt from The GAA Strategic Vision and Action Plan 2009-2015:

• We welcome everybody to be part of our Association
• We are anti sectarian
• We are anti racist

Does the above aptly describe us?

Few will begrudge the GAA and its membership the right to celebrate the 125th anniversary of its foundation. Obviously, there will be some who do so but no one can deny that it has played a major part in the formation of Irish society as we know it today.
It has always had a strong Nationalist ethos and indeed one of the reasons for its foundation and continuing existence has been its links with Irish Nationalist culture.
But is this sufficient in the Ireland of today and more importantly of tomorrow?
Many in the association talk of extending the hand of friendship to members of the Unionist community in Northern Ireland.
A few short years ago, the mere mention of 'reaching out' without a stout ashplant or similar held firmly in one's hand, would have been unthinkable!
The fact that the idea is even being considered marks progress of a sort to many but there may be others who want the GAA to maintain its strong Nationalist ethos and who discourage contact of any sort with those they regard as their ancient adversaries.
Do you think the GAA is mentally resilient enough and has sufficient self-confidence to go looking for possible recruits from a community that was once regarded with distaste and suspicion?
Talking of 'reaching out' is all very well but it takes two to shake hands; will people on the other side of the social and historical divide welcome the open arms approach of the GAA?
What changes will need to be made within the structures of the association if the overtures are to bear fruit?
I think the question of recruiting members from across the community divide will be discussed and debated at length at all levels of the association in the near to mid-term future. Would an influx of non-nationalist players be good or bad for the GAA?
We might have an interesting discussion on these and other matters that need to be considered if the GAA does pursue the 'reaching out' proposals.
But there are many other matters that engage our attention as we mark the association's 125th year in existence and I would not presume that  I am able to name them all; the payment of players' expenses is certainly one to express opinions about as is the opening of Croke Park for foreign games.
Does any one out there have views to air on these and related matters?
What about the status of the Irish language in the GAA of tomorrow? Is it merely used on formal occasion to pay lip service to the ideals and aspirations of its founding members or is it an essential part of the GAA's unique character?
Possibly there are even more questions than answers!
I am posting this thread to give members the chance to sound off about everything and anything that is somehow relevant to the celebrations that are about to get underway.

Me, the bro and a few other Mayo exiles were skulling a few pints one night.
(That doesn’t strictly apply to me as my doc has told me I can drink as much as I like as often as I like- as long as I don’t go over the two pint mark. But I’m digressing here.)
As usual, we got around to our favourite topic of conversation, picking a team to win the All Ireland this year, or indeed any year.
More or less by accident, we set about picking a composite side, going back to 1989. Obviously, the row soon started and the barman had to join in at times, some of the time giving his opinion and sometimes asking us to calm down.
We had great fun and of course the arguments will be picked up again next time we come together.
I wonder if anyone out there would like to join in to pass a bit of time as we count down to our next game.
Furboot obligingly posted the teams and their positions for the All Ireland sides from ’96 onwards on the Mayo Post Mortem and Qualifiers Thread.
I haven’t the line out for the ’89 team to hand as I write this but the following is taken from a photo on the Mayogaa site and people who remember the game will be able to pick out the prominent players.


Back, left to right: Dr. Frank Davey, Seamus Daly, Denis Kearney, Jimmy Burke, Pat Holmes, Kieran Carey, Peter Ford, Sean Maher, Mickey Feeney, Martin Carney, Raymond Dempsey, Gina Carney (Physio), Mick Devanney.
Centre: Christy O'Haire, John Prenty, Frank Noone, Dermot Flanagan, John Maughan, Eugene Lavin, Liam MacHale, Gabriel Irwin, T.J. Kilgallon, Willie
Joe Padden, Kevin Beirne, Charlie Collins, Kevin O'Toole.
Front: John O'Mahony, Brian Kilkelly, Kevin McStay, Miceal Collins, Michael J. Mullen, Jimmy Brown (Capt.), Noel Durkin, Michael Fitzmaurice, John
Finn, Anthony Finnerty, Michael Higgins.
On Ground: Greg Maher, Ronan Mee, Tomas O'Grady, Anthony McGarry.

We included the present panel of course in our selections.
I’m not listing my own selectionfor the present because:
A)   I forgot what I decided as the row was so good
B)   I want to keep this post relatively short in order to let have their say.
Anyone care to have a go?

I'm hoping some kind soul can help me out here.
I normally access this site using the same computer each time I log in.
I used to experience no difficulty whatever in doing this.
But on Thursday evening the situation changed and I can no longer log in from the computer in question.
I get a standard error message telling me that the site is unavailable or does not exist.
Furthermore, I have Opera, Firefox and IE installed and all basically give me the same result. I have checked my firewall settings and I don't think the problem lies there either.
So I sent a PM to gaaboardmod3 to see if I had been banned and I got a prompt and friendly reply. I was told there was no problem with my membership and the fault has to be at my end. (I can log in on other connections without any problems.)
Has anyone else ever experienced something like this or can anyone point me in the right direction.
If I have to I will go seek help on a computer help forum but I'm hoping before I do this that someone here might be able to help me.

I wonder if anyone on this board could tell me anything about the way the new grant scheme for intercounty panellists is supposed to operate.
About two months ago, John O'Mahony, Mayo's manager, announced that his panel was going to be finalised and 'closed off' at the end of Mayo's league run. This had to be done, said O'Mahony because the county board required the finalisation of the panel in order to keep tabs on players' entitlement to grant monies.
I thought this move was bizarre; no one can foresee possible injuries or loss of form that might affect any member of any panel. What would happen if new talent was discovered or re-discovered in any county- especially if the panel had already been depleted?
The implication to be taken from O'Mahony's press statement was that intercounty panels had to be finalised well in advance of the championships and that this had to be done at the request of the county boards.
Has any other county in Ireland felt the need to close off its panel to date? I haven't heard of a single county yet that has followed Mayo's lead.
Can any poster name one for me?