Gaelic Games: Going into the weekend's Congress Seán Kelly was the most beleaguered GAA president in over a decade. The scrapping of eight motions on the use of Croke Park had been only the culmination of several months' indignity during which he had been pilloried in public for his views on the subject.

Even on the Friday evening he had steered through an emollient statement calling for the rift to be healed.

By nature Kelly is not confrontational but on Saturday, on home turf in Killarney as Kerry's first president, the velvet glove came off.

After some routine comments he moved on to both the substantive issue of Rule 42 and the controversy over the out-of-order motions as well as addressing criticisms of his presidency.

"Some individuals have questioned the right of the uachtarán to express his personal opinion on this matter. One assumes these critics are expressing their own personal opinions, while wishing to deny me, an t-uachtarán the right to express mine. Well, I have news for you gentlemen," he declared.

"When you have the same mandate as I got from Congress two years ago, then and not till then shall I be silenced by you or anybody else."

One delegate said later the president was constantly surprising him and the consensus was he had leapt up in the esteem of delegates, both those sympathetic, who had impatiently waited for him to round on his tormentors and those who wouldn't normally agree with him but who were impressed by the defiant vigour of his broadside.

The standing ovation with which the speech was greeted was customary but none the less welcome and satisfying for Kelly. Nor was the strong speech and the reaction to it the extent of the good news for the president.

A whole raft of reforms gained approval during Saturday's debates. Principal amongst these were the proposals of the Hurling Development Committee, to create three separate, graded All-Irelands and limit to 12 the counties eligible to enter the senior championship. This blueprint, which was decisively adopted, had the backing of the president.

Another issue on which he felt strongly was the restriction of Central Council delegates to five-year terms. This had been passed before - one of the few early successes of the Strategic Review Committee - but Central Council ingeniously exempted themselves from the limitation to the intense irritation of Kelly.

During the debates the president's growing confidence was evident. He chaired the sessions firmly and effectively, driving through the early business and leaving plenty of time to thrash out the complicated championship proposals.

As the early positive trend (the adoption of compulsory helmet and face guard for hurlers up to and including minor level went through with only Cork opposed) hardened, the president's demeanour became decidedly light-hearted.