GPA fire fresh salvo in grants row

The Gaelic Players Association have once again condemned the GAA for postponing discussions on a players grant scheme until the Nickey Brennan presidency begins next month.

In what has descended into a tit-for-tat exchange of press releases, the players' body last night released a third statement in seven days to counteract Tuesday's riposte from Croke Park.

Significantly, the GPA do not contest GAA assertions that chief executive Dessie Farrell withdrew his motion to introduce a Government grant scheme at the Central Council meeting of February 25th.

They do, however, dispute the GAA's denial that Central Council had previously endorsed the issue. And they claim Farrell gained clarification that the grant scheme had received support at a previous meeting of Central Council.

"This clarification was received, despite protestations from GAA president-elect Nickey Brennan to the contrary. Seán Kelly confirmed that the matter was raised previously and confirmed that there was support for the proposal. A delegate from the floor concurred," last night's statement reads.

"As a result, the current president of the GAA, Seán Kelly, was in a position to publicly endorse this proposal, as he has done on a number of occasions."

They went on to criticise Brennan for not meeting them ahead of their March 8th meeting with Minister for Sport John O'Donoghue. The Minister, understandably, shelved the issue until the GAA send a representative for discussions, which the association, and Brennan, have intimated they intend to do later this year.

Speaking for their 1,426 members, the GPA added: "Players cannot understand why this meeting could not have been convened in advance of March 8th, particularly in light of the president-elect's willingness to engage and participate in all other executive level meetings over the past few months, including meeting the AFL in Australia, the North American Board in New York and negotiations with the IRFU and FAI on the opening of Croke Park.

"The sports grants issue has been a priority for the players for a considerable time. Attempts by the GAA officials to procrastinate, and their blatant disregard for the sense of urgency on this matter, has infuriated players the length and breadth of the country."

Meanwhile, the Sligo County Board have ratified Tommy Breheny as manager of the county's senior and under-21 football teams until the end of the season.

The St Mary's clubman, who took over as caretaker boss after Fermanagh native Dom Corrigan was sacked last month, played for Sligo from 1986 to 1997. His brother Mark is a member of the Sligo team.

Limerick have made two changes in personnel for their NFL encounter with London on Sunday. Jason O'Brien replaces injured forward Johnny Murphy, while Andrew Lane comes into defence for Tim Carroll.

The intercounty career of Liam Hodgins, who captained Galway to the 2001 All-Ireland final, looks to be at an end following his decision to pull out of Conor Hayes' squad.

"We are disappointed to lose him," said the Galway manager. "He is an experienced player who has served Galway well over the years. He was unfortunate to suffer a serious knee injury and when he came back last year others had moved forward."

Thirty-six of the country's leading women's footballers have begun a week's visit to Singapore, where they will play an exhibition game at the city's Polo Grounds on Saturday. The All Stars toured for the first time two years ago when they had a successful visit to New York.

Tickets for tomorrow's All-Ireland club finals are still available from the GAA website and Ticketmaster. Adult tickets are €20, while juveniles are €5. Students and OAPs, who purchase a full-priced ticket for the Cusack or Canal stands, will receive a €10 refund at Block D when entering the stadium.

LIMERICK (SF v London): S Kiely; J Gallagher, J McCarthy, P Browne; A Lane, C Mullane, S Lavin; J Galvin, J Stokes; S Buckley, D Reidy, P Ahern; J O'Brien, M Crowley, M Reidy.