Kieran Shannon reflects on the ever growing importance of the Relative Age Effect in  underage sport.

Tipperary GAA chiefs have expressed disappointment that Semple Stadium has been omitted from the stadia comprising Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid, as TDs from the county are set to demand answers for its omission.

Ulster Council chairman Martin McAviney insists referee Maggie Farrelly’s championship debut on Sunday was not a once-off, predicting a bright future for the Cavan official on the men’s inter-county scene.

THE punditry boom in the GAA keeps getting boomier.

One of the GAA’s most respected physiotherapists believes a “copycat phenomenon” is partly to blame for pushing inter-county training workloads “over the edge”. 

It’s not just Unionists who have a deep-rooted pride in their northern identity. Ulster Gaels also possess a loyalty to their province which simply doesn’t exist in the other green fields.

The future of two GAA grounds earmarked for Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid remains in doubt following events yesterday.

Unlike The Honourable Mr Justice Horner, a lot of people made a rushed judgment about Casement Park on Monday morning, writes Paddy Heaney.

A late point from Daniel McKernan saved Antrim’s blushes as they registered their 13th Ulster Senior Hurling title in a row in front of 1,243 spectators in Owenbeg this afternoon.

Planning permission has been granted for the Casement Park redevelopment project which will see a 5,500 increase in capacity at the Belfast venue to bring it to a 38,000 all-seater stadium, which will be the flagship venue for Ulster GAA fixtures.

The setting up of a separate body for boxers in Northern Ireland will only heighten religious divisions and threaten to split the sport for generations, a new report has claimed.

Former Kerry and Munster Council chairman Seán Walsh has joined the GAA Presidential race.

This year's Ulster Senior Hurling Championship final has been re-fixed for Sunday, November 3 - almost four months after Down and reigning champions Antrim were originally due to play each other.

Down manager Gerard Monan has dubbed the Ulster Council's failure to reschedule the Ulster SHC final between Down and reigning champions Antrim as 'diabolical'.

Allianz Hurling League Division 3A final

GAA President Liam O'Neill has vowed to bring a motion to next year's GAA Congress in Derry to eradicate all forms of abuse in the Association.

The tragic loss of rugby ace Nevin Spence was mourned today by a leading figure in gaelic games, whose ranks also lost a young player in an accident only days ago.

The GAA community was in mourning last night after senior Fermanagh footballer Brian Óg Maguire died in a shocking workplace accident at a Quinn Group cement and steel factory in his native county.

Call me superstitious, but I’d be reluctant to launch anything at a place with Titanic in its name.

In the not too distant future both Casement Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be bulldozed to the ground and completely rebuilt.

Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson tonight attended his first GAA match.

THE Munster Council is expecting one of the biggest crowds ever seen at a football final this weekend.

FOUR of the five Ulster county boards in the North who did not attend Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Croke Park on Wednesday have claimed they weren’t invited to the event.

THE Camogie Association’s annual congress comes to a conclusion at the Wellington Park Hotel in Belfast today, with a head-to-head battle to succeed Joan O’Flynn as president.

ULSTER GAA scored a windfall victory yesterday with news they will receive £61.4million (€71,458,841) in public funding toward the reconstruction of Casement Park.

A trio of floodlit encounters will open the 2011 Barrett Sports Lighting Dr McKenna Cup competition on Saturday, January 8.

ULSTER GAA chiefs are concerned that another postponement of their provincial football final would spark even more fixture chaos, according to officials.

Laois man Liam O'Neill has become the first person to declare himself as a candidate in the race to succeed Cork native Christy Cooney as GAA President.

Down forward Benny Coulter has gained a hat-trick of personal accolades this week, with the Vodafone Footballer of the Month and Ulster GAA Writers Association Merit awards for May following hot on the heels of yesterday's OPEL-GPA Player of the Month gong.

SPORTING fixture lists across the country for this weekend have been decimated by the worsening weather conditions.

ULSTER GAA chiefs face a fixtures backlog after all four provincial senior club championship games were postponed yesterday due to heavy overnight rain.

The Ulster GAA released 125 balloons today to mark its foundation.

ULSTER GAA officials may be forced to increase admission charges tochampionship games this year as a consequence of the impact of the current exchange rate between Sterling and the Euro on their finances.

MUNSTER senior football champions Cork will begin the 2009 defence of their crown in the Fraher Field, Dungarvan on May 24 with a quarter-final clash against Waterford.

Stormont ministers will make the issue of health screening for up-and-coming athletes a top priority following the deaths of four young people on both sides of the border, the Ian Paisley insisted today.

GAA chiefs on both sides of the Atlantic last night reiterated that the New York board fully support a decision to abandon stadium development plans for the Randall’s Island site in the big apple.

Armagh 3-11 Donegal 1-10

DONEGAL County Board have threatened to suspend their second largest hurling club for six months. The threatened suspension of Setanta hurling club is the culmination of a two-year row between the club and the county board.

The world of Irish sport today paid tribute to one of rugby’s rising stars, John McCall, at his funeral in Armagh.

FORMER Clare hurling selector Tony Considine is being lined up to take over as manager of Limerick club Garryspillane.