The Lord Mayor and Dublin City Council are paying tribute to Jim Gavin for his contribution to public life and service to his county and country both on and off the pitch.

While we had two dramatic All-Ireland semi-finals that went down to the wire, unfortunately, the standard of refereeing will come under scrutiny.

Nine months on and the thrill of the win has yet to wear off.

Last Friday’s Leinster Championships launch attempted to offer something for everybody.

Former Offaly hurler Brian Carroll insists the same rules should apply to Munster as they do to Leinster and relegation has to be a factor.

John Meyler has warned of the enormous toll being taken on the GAA’s inter-county players after concerns expressed in Cork over the risk of “life-altering” injuries to elite footballers and hurlers.

Galway manager Micheál Donoghue wants a rethink of the provincial hurling championships after a gruelling four games in five weekends this year.

Every action has consequences, intended and otherwise, which is why I start today with the hurling championship.

Four days out from a hurling-dominated Special Congress and what will be decided for next year’s senior championship is anyone’s guess, writes John Fogarty.

In the backlash to Tipperary’s Munster championship defeat to Cork nobody was spared, not even Seamus Callanan.

Jim Gavin has stoked the embers of his simmering row with Éamonn Fitzmaurice, insisting that his Dublin team is not cynical and that such claims are influencing referees.

Galway minor hurling manager Jeff Lynskey has slammed the “exclusion” of the county’s hurlers and said the decision to put the county’s U17 hurlers straight into an All-Ireland semi-final this year shows “a total lack of respect” to Galway.

Leinster football is at a low ebb outside of Dublin right now as the rest of the province tries to keep the All-Ireland champions in reach. How can other counties bridge that yawning gap?

One of the most interesting things about sport is how notions get stuck inside people’s heads and refuse to shift, regardless of the evidence available. A great example of this is the notion that the GAA is now ‘No Country For Old Men’.

Brian Carroll announced his retirement from Offaly hurling this week. Son of two-time All-Ireland medal-winner Pat, he was a member of the last Offaly team to capture the Leinster minor crown (2000) and played in the provincial senior hurling final back in 2004.

The Munster hurling championship should be run on a round-robin, home-and-away basis to provide more games for players and spectators, says Ger Loughnane.

Seamus Callanan is refusing to blame a five-week break for Tipperary’s demise to Galway last month - but would like to be playing more championship matches.

Bryan Cullen believes Dublin have a distinct advantage over Kerry thanks to their extra game against Mayo last weekend.

Sitting in the Hogan Stand two weeks ago watching John Heslin roll in the game-clinching goal, it was hard not to get drawn in by the pure joy and excitement the Westmeath squad and supporters were experiencing.

GAA chiefs have revealed that a heavy grass seeding programme has resulted in the increased presence of pigeons in Croke Park in recent weeks.

Outgoing Galway hurling committee chairman Joe Byrne has fired a parting shot at the Leinster Council and GAA headquarters for its refusal to allow Galway underage teams partake in the Leinster championships.

Dublin chairman Andy Kettle believes Galway wish to enter their minor and U21s hurlers into the Leinster championships because they regard it as the easier province.

Up the brow of the first hill it was clear Síofra Cléirigh Buttner had her sixth consecutive Aviva All-Ireland Schools Cross Country gold medal ready to be draped over her neck on a challenging course at Cork IT.

Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney has come down hard on the Football Review Committee (FRC)’s championship proposals.

Westmeath hurling manager Brian Hanley has pleaded with the GAA not to exclude his side and Carlow as they draw up a new hurling league structure.

So fare thee well Lance Franklin. We hardly knew ya.

The home of the famed University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana was an unlikely venue for a piece of hurling history over the weekend.

Kilcormac-Killoughey are odds on favourites to retain the Seán Robbins Cup in Offaly after Coolderry, winners of the Offaly and Leinster championships in 2011, crashed out of the championship at the quarter-final stage for the second year in succession on Saturday evening.

Justin McNulty's spell in charge of the Laois senior footballers is over after he decided not to seek an extension to his original three-year term.

The structure of the All-Ireland SHC is up for discussion this Saturday. John Fogarty takes you through all you need to know about the two proposals...

Dublin are among a number of counties against the GAA’s new guideline to reduce the number of officials on the sideline to five.

Inter-county dual players should be given the opportunity to line out for their football and hurling teams, says GAA president Liam O’Neill.

Brian Cody has called for a Champions League-style All-Ireland senior hurling championship.

In his role as Offaly Council chairman, Kilcormac-Killoughey manager Danny Owens had the opportunity to meet Barack Obama on the US president’s visit to Moneygall last year.

Written in stone, that would appear to be the case for both the Munster and Leinster championships after the GAA’s Coiste Bainistí (Management Committee) released its proposals for the hurling championship format for the years ‘2014 to 2016 and beyond’.

Liam Dunne was never one to shirk a challenge.

A new stadium with a capacity of around 30,000, All-Ireland football titles every three years and new provincial status for the purposes of increased funding.

IT has been a season of incremental progress for Dublin hurling yet the true barometer at the season’s end will be the amount of silverware that rests on the sideboard.

The GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was launched today at the Dunloy GAA club in the Glens of Antrim by GAA President Christy Cooney.

WEXFORD hurling legend Liam Griffin has warned that counties which “yo-yo” between Allianz Hurling League Divisions 1 and 2 mayeventually be lost to lower divisions.

Winning a provincial title does not hinder teams in their pursuit of the Sam Maguire Cup - that is the view of Kerry football legend Maurice Fitzgerald.