Gaelic Games News round-up: GAA president Seán Kelly has delayed the start of his planned elections for a Croke Park-controlled players' body until after the All-Ireland finals in September.
"Several players have come to me and said that because of the proximity of the championship matches and also the stance taken by the GPA (Gaelic Players' Association) the time should be extended for them to discuss it. And naturally I agreed to that," said Kelly.
Kelly still intends to press ahead with his planned elections for the start of a new player representation within the Croke Park hierarchy, though this was described last week by GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell as "undemocratic".
That description, said Kelly, was more surprising than disappointing: "They (the GPA) might be looking at things differently, but to state that something which is done on a democratic basis in undemocratic, just because not everyone takes part in it, is unfair. In that case almost every election wouldn't be valid, because not everyone votes in every election. All you can do is put the process in train and let the people exercise their right."
Kelly's plan is to have all counties call their panels together to elect representatives to provincial level, which would mean two members would be elected to represent each county.
The long-delayed Strategic Review plans for Dublin were also described by Kelly yesterday as having made "tremendous progress" over the past few weeks.
"We have now drawn up the programme," he said, "and are in the process of putting the budgets in place. We've another meeting next Tuesday, at which point we hope to be given the go-ahead to establish all the key personnel in Dublin."
The GAA president also highlighted his concerns about the poor running of some intercounty media nights. "I am writing to the counties left in the championships to have a proper media night," he said, "and will be asking the county boards and the managers to give the media and the general public the respect they deserve. And to be up front with them, and ensure enough players are made available to them.
"We are trying to present the best possible image. But I think we have left ourselves down in that area. No one likes to be taken for a ride, or be part of a sham, and with a bit of understanding and goodwill the media nights can be a success. Otherwise we'd be better off forgetting about them."
