Clare's candidate for the GAA presidency, Noel Walsh, has reacted angrily to the continuing uncertainty about the candidacy of Munster Council chairman Sean Kelly from Kerry. Kelly's public position is that he will withdraw from the race rather than run against Walsh, his predecessor in the provincial chair.
Asked about his intentions, Walsh stated his position. "A year ago, I made it clear that I was running for the presidency. This uncertainty is caused by Sean Kelly's position. If you want to know what that is, ask him but I declared myself publicly at last year's provincial convention in March 1998.
"I have never said at any stage since that I was thinking of pulling out and I find it aggravating to have people asking me if I'm definitely still a candidate. At no stage have I indicated that I wasn't standing."
Kelly indicated that he would be making a decision soon. "I will be releasing a statement in the next week or two. If Noel is going, it wouldn't be right for me to go. He was chairman of the provincial council before me. If I ran against him, it wouldn't help unity in the province."
The other candidates are Monaghan's Sean McCague, a former GAC chairman who was runner-up to current president Joe McDonagh in the 1996 election, and Albert Fallon, a former chairman of the Leinster Council. Were Sean Kelly to stay in the race, he would become the first Kerryman to contest the GAA's highest office.
The Donegal county board has voted unanimously to conduct its meetings in camera. County chairman John McConnell said the decision was taken because delegates were unhappy about addressing meetings with media personnel present.
"It was put to the floor and there was a very strong opinion that we were not getting the unanimous view of our delegates at meetings because they were afraid of being quoted in the press and that's the bottom line. It has nothing to do with the way meetings have been reported," he said.
The death has occurred of legendary Kerry footballer Bill Casey. He passed away on Monday and his funeral mass will be held today at 12.00 in Lispole.
An uncle of Dublin All-Ireland medallist Brian Mullins, Casey starred in the half-back line of Kerry's three-in-a-row side of the early 1940s and won four All-Ireland and nine Munster medals in an inter-county career lasting from 1937-49.
His first All-Ireland final was in 1938 when his county was defeated by Galway in a replay.
He was at centre back for the following three years when Kerry completed a hat-trick of titles. The team was very much built from the back on a defence including Joe Keohane at full back. When the county next won the All-Ireland in 1946, it was to be Casey's last medal.
