Last year, the GAA’s Minor Review Work Group made the startling revelation a quarter of young players either trained or played seven days a week.

As part of his preparation for religious life, Fr Pat Barry had to serve as a deacon in a parish: six months’ worth of pastoral experience ahead of his ordination, back in 1976. He was assigned to a parish on Canvey Island in Essex.

A leading Irish academic has warned GAA chiefs against switching prestigious third-level championship competitions to a pre-Christmas slot.

Like most sports journalists, this columnist served an apprenticeship that called for a frequent presence at games where press facilities amounted to a spot inside rather than outside the rails and the height of any literary ambition was being able to read your notes as the rain sent the ink trickling down the page.

All-Ireland winning Donegal manager Jim McGuinness claims the GAA is going down a “dangerous” road with new yellow card proposals, describing it as a “disaster” waiting to happen.

FORMER GAA president Nickey Brennan says neither a county nor a college should be able to lay outright claim to their players for pre-season competitions.

THE recession has hit GAA coffers as Ulster Bank have withdrawn its sponsorship of the Higher Education Championships and leagues, which include the prestigious Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cups.

Some of the most promising footballers and hurlers in the country will be honoured at the Ulster Bank Rising Stars awards ceremony at the bank's headquarters in Dublin tonight.

THEY’RE not exactly flavour of the month amongst intercounty managers, but third-level sides are determined to leave their mark on the 2010 pre-season GAA fare.

GAA president Christy Cooney is hopeful that the scenes of unrest which broke out at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise in Sunday’s O’Byrne Cup quarter-final between Laois and Kildare will not become commonplace this year.

PHILIP WALLACE professes to be mystified by Good Counsel’s failure to win All-Ireland colleges titles.

CROKE PARK has warned it will adopt a far stricter stance in relation to counties flouting the closed season collective training ban.

WATERFORD have created hurling history by appointing joint-captains for the coming season.

NUI Galway student Donal McAnallen has resigned as secretary of the Higher Education Council of the GAA (Comhairle Ardoideachais CLG) with immediate effect.

JAMES MURRAY is taking nothing for granted. The Tallow stalwart spent almost the entire League campaign at centre-back, and is virtually assured of his place in the Waterford team for Sunday's clash Cork in the Guinness Munster hurling semi-final.

STUDENTS at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) say they will be left without training or playing grounds if Waterford Crystal’s plans to rezone almost 25 acres, which it leases to the college, are approved.