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GAA to officially recognise the GPA

Setanta.com

GAA chiefs have indicated that a framework is in the pipeline to formally recognise the GPA as the principal representatives of Senior intercounty players.

Officials from the GAA and the players' body gathered in an historical meeting at Croke Park on Monday night before a joint statement was issued.

"The meeting concentrated on agreeing a framework to facilitate discussions which could potentially lead to formal recognition of the GPA as the principal body representing senior intercounty football and hurling players," read the statement.

The GAA has revealed that this formal recognition will come to fruition during Nickey Brennan's term as GAA President, which runs until April 2009.

Both parties will meet in the coming weeks to set down a document, which will outline the future agreement. A schedule of meetings and a framework for discussions have also been set in stone.

The issue of government-sponsored grants for Senior intercounty panels was also discussed at Monday night's summit.

Both the GAA and the GPA have agreed to await clarification from the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, on issues previously raised by the respective bodies.

[Kernan: 2007 will be my final year]

From Setanta.com

Kernan: 2007 will be my final year


Armagh Senior football manager Joe Kernan has confirmed to Setanta Sports that 2007 will be his final year at the Orchard County helm.

The Crossmaglen man extended his stay for a sixth year in September but has now revealed that it will be his last stint in the hotseat.

Kernan led Armagh to a first ever All-Ireland title in 2002 before affecting a stranglehold on the Ulster Senior Football Championship, which has now seen them collect six provincial crowns in eight years.

"The one thing we know is that when we go Armagh will be left in good hands," said Kernan.

"There will be no need to go around looking for a new manager like in Mayo at the minute where everything is up in the air. You don't need that.

"We need to keep the ship steady and keep the players believing. Hopefully in 12 months, and I'd like to think it would be late in September that I step down."

The 1977 All-Ireland finalist also intimated that his new assistant manager John Rafferty will take the reins when he steps down next year. Rafferty, who steered Antrim side St Gall's to the AIB All-Ireland Club title, took over from Paul Grimley as Kernan's right-hand man two months ago.

"From what I've seen, and I knew him when he was a young lad playing for Armagh, I'm going to enjoy working with John over the next 12 months," added Kernan.

"Certainly my days as a manager are numbered because I always feel it's better to go before you're chased."

Team trainer John McCloskey will remain part of the county's backroom team for another year as Armagh look to secure a second-ever Sam Maguire Cup.

Mayo hand O'Mahony three-year term - courtesy of Setanta.com



John O'Mahony has been handed a three-year term as the new Mayo Senior football manager.

Western County officials revealed their man at a special media briefing on Monday night at the Welcome Inn Hotel in Castlebar.

The Ballaghadereen clubman has been the county board's number one target since it ended Mickey Moran and John Morrison's term last month.

O'Mahony previously steered Mayo to an All-Ireland final in 1989 before they lost to Cork, and now he returns to the post with further intercounty experience having managed both Galway and Leitrim.

A backroom team of Ballina's Tommy Lyons, Kieran Gallagher, a selector under the Moran reign, and former Minor manager Martin Carney have also been ratified by the Mayo county board.

Mayo to unveil O'Mahony tonight - on Setanta.com


The Mayo county board are expected to unveil John O'Mahony as their new Senior football manager at a special press briefing tonight.

Western County officials have invited members of the media to the Welcome Inn Hotel in Castlebar to provide an update on the managerial position.

Ballaghadereen clubman O'Mahony signalled, at the beginning of last week, that he wouldn't be giving the board an answer until this week.

O'Mahony, who previously managed Galway, has been the board's number one target since it ended Mickey Moran and John Morrison's term last month.

TJ Kilgallon (former Sligo mentor) and Tommy Lyons (Ballina) are believed to be in contention to take up roles as selectors under O'Mahony.

Interesting feature about this topic on Setanta.com:


Articles such as this are most often spawned by the success of the privileged and the disgruntlement of the proletariat.

UCD's footballers, the former in this case, are through to the Dublin County final and should they win, a tired, unshakeable argument will revolve around bar stools in the capital once more.

Had the students been knocked out of the championship by now, such articles would struggle for a column inch. But a team comprising a United Nations-esque band of intercounty stars is winning in an environment where sense of place is held most dearly.

Take one player: Paul Earls, the UCD right corner forward. Earls lined out for his home club, Wicklow County champions St Patrick's, against Moorefield of Kildare in an AIB Leinster Club SFC first-round defeat. Though his side were beaten 0-12 to 0-8 by the Lilywhite kingpins, Earls is still playing club championship football for his college.

Offaly's star intercounty forward Niall McNamee is another example on the college side. His club, Rhode, the Faithful County champions, are set to play Palatine of Carlow in the first round of the provincial competition. If UCD progress in the Dublin final, he will have to choose to play for club or college. Indeed, it is not inconceivable that after helping UCD through to the AIB Leinster Club SFC, McNamee could end up playing against his college team mates for Rhode.

It all begs the question: is it fair that the elite have two chances of club success, while the majority have just one shot at glory?

There are 32 separate county championship competitions, which each produce a champion club that goes on to contest the provincial and, if successful, All-Ireland Club series. The Ulster, Leinster, Connacht and Munster Club tournaments and the All-Ireland competition are an extension of the county championships but are effectively considered separate entities. So, a player can, with certain stipulations, play for two clubs in two different county championships but only one club once the GAA calendar reaches the provincial series.

For most Gaelic footballers and hurlers the ultimate goal is to win and All-Ireland title with their club and not with their county as might be commonly understood. Take this little theory: by contesting one county championship successfully for their college and another for their home club, they then most likely apply themselves under their club's flag in the provincial series. Are they then depriving another club player the opportunity to compete in the latter stages of the club season?

It's difficult to criticise the individual in such a situation but it's not a question of the little Dutch boy and the dyke when it comes to the rules at county board or even provincial council level.

Universities generally have more resources than clubs and sometimes spend as much money on their panel as is spent on senior intercounty squads.
Third level outfits also have the advantage in that they can effectively handpick players with scholarships and other incentives, while clubs predominantly have to work with the hand they are dealt, generally from a small parish area.

UCD did not contest the Dublin championship for a long period between the 1970s and late 1990s. But in less than a decade they have won three Senior Hurling Championships, three U21 Hurling Championships, two U21 Football Championships and one Senior Football Championship.

Many of their playing body do not have full-time jobs unlike most club players. The University has the largest student population in Ireland and the biggest scholarship scheme in the country. Their medal haul in the senior championships in recent years is better than any other club in the capital.
A quick analysis of UCD's starting XV suggests they are in rude health in terms of intercounty. Aside from McNamee and Earls, both senior intercounty stars, Shane Lennon, who scored the winning goal against Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin SFC semi-final, played for Louth this year.

Dermot Geraghty, Paddy Navin and Austin O'Malley all have senior games under their belt with Mayo, while Billy Sheehan was a driving force in Laois' forward lines in 2006.
Cavan's Sean Brady and Mark Ward of Meath are amongst a number of other senior intercounty stars that comprise the UCD side.

Whether having a United Nations style line-up in a County Championship appreciates or depreciates the competition's health is debatable. But it is certainly a case of the rich getting richer if an elite footballer or hurler can have two chances of club success while the average club player has just once opportunity.

By Jim Lalor

From www.Setanta.com

A member of a Carlow GAA Club has been banned from the GAA for life, by the Leinster Games Administration Committee, after a club championship game ended in violence two weeks ago.

Brian Farrell Senior, of the Palatine club, has been expelled from the Association under Rule 144, following a meeting of the Leinster GAC on Thursday night.

Palatine's Niall Reid and team manager Michael Lillis were each handed a six-month suspension.

The bans were issued following an ugly end to the Palatine versus Rhode AIB Leinster Club SFC quarter-final on November 5th, which the Offaly side won 1-11 to 2-7.

Westmeath referee Pat Fox was jostled by Palatine's Niall Reid after the full-time whistle before being knocked to the ground by one of the club's spectators at Dr Cullen Park.

The tension arose after the Rosemount official had blown for steps against a Palatine player, who was in a scoring position deep into injury time.

Following that decision two Palatine players - Paul Reid and Brian Farrell Junior- and one man from Rhode - Joe Kilmurray - were issued red cards.

Chiefs in the eastern province considered the referee's report and, after reviewing a DVD recording of the game, dished out six suspensions in all.

Palatine players Brian Farrell Junior and Paul Reid were given 12 and four-week bans respectively, while Rhode footballer Joe Kilmurray received four weeks.

Leinster officials interviewed all of the suspended as well as officers from each club before making their rulings.

GAA to begin small-scale screening - Setanta.com

A GAA sub-committee has decided to begin a small-scale screening programme to test for Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) amongst small cross-section of intercounty players.

Campaigners for mass mandatory screening will be disappointed that the GAA's Medical, Scientific and Welfare Committee has advised the Association's Management Committee to begin testing on a small scale. GAA chiefs will be advised to screen 600 hurlers and footballers across Senior and Minor level.

Both the FAI and IRFU screen their elite players and now the GAA will put in place precautions to alert doctors to those who might be susceptible to SADS.

The National Sudden Cardiac Death Taskforce believes that all senior intercounty players should be screened; however, there are two sides to this debate within international medicine.

Essentially, one side believes that screening should be mandatory across all elite sports people as saving even one life would be worth it, while the other camp says that one per cent of athletes will be told to give up their sport despite no guarantees that they will ever suffer from SADS.

A number of county boards, such as Kilkenny, have already screened their intercounty panels.

However, it is estimated that mandatory screening within the GAA arena would result in around 20 senior intercounty players being told to hang up their boots.

I reckon 'Hurling: The Revolution Years' is the best GAA book yet. It's by Denis Walsh of the Sunday Times and concentrates on the era of the 1990s when Offaly, Clare and Wexford made their breakthroughs.
It's written through a bunch of stories with players, management etc. Provides an honest account of what went on and tells some great tales about what the Offaly lads like Johnny Pilkington got up whilst on the sauce.