You couldn’t call it a rivalry.

GAA presidential candidate Frank Burke says improving the plight of vulnerable clubs in “fractured” rural Ireland is one of his chief policy priorities.

Kilkenny’s Cillian Buckley has frustrated Galway hurling fans by claiming they can’t expect to play any home games in the Leinster championship.

Brian Cody will mark 19 years in charge of Kilkenny’s senior hurling team after he was confirmed as manager for 2017 following a meeting of the county board in Nowlan Park last night.

Galway hurling PRO Jarlath Cloonan has raised the possibility of the county negotiating a return to the Munster senior hurling championship if the Leinster Council continue to refuse them home games and entry to their underage competitions.

The national ploughing championships were held not too far away in Screggan during the week but around Cloona, Johnstownbridge, Kilglass, Broadford, Carbury and the general west of Kildare, the most important ploughing occasion of the year takes place tomorrow week.

It is 40 years this weekend since Galway returned to hurling’s high altar, their 1975 All-Ireland final appearance bringing to an end the county’s 17-year wait for a September sojourn to Jones Road.

In the closing days of August 1975, Paddy Downey, the revered Gaelic games correspondent of The Irish Times, made a little pilgrimage to Kilkenny and had a ball.

Three of the four provincial chairmen have backed the GAA calendar year workgroup’s call to provide All-Ireland semi-finalists with byes in the irrespective code’s provincial club championships.

A heartbroken community yesterday heard that people with issues need to speak out and let others know that they are experiencing difficulties.

Connacht GAA Chairman Frank Burke says it is important to have New York and London contesting the Connacht Senior Football Championship.

Sigerson Cup semi-final: UCC 1-20 Athlone IT 1-9

Sigerson Cup quarter-final: Athlone IT 0-11 CIT 1-4

Athlone IT 1-13 IT Carlow 0-6

Dermot Desmond heads the list of Irish property investors with a personal fortune estimated at €1.7bn, according to trade magazine Estates Gazette’s rich list.

It was the day of the first 70-minute All Ireland final.

LONGFORD produced a strong final quarter to claim victory over Athlone IT in this O’Byrne Cup tie at Ballymahon.

Reigning champions DCU crashed out of the O'Byrne Cup this afternoon, as Kieran McGeeney's Kildare side marched into the semi-finals of the early season competition.

UCC 1-15 Athlone IT 0-7

CLAIMS that a fake garda signature was used on a planning application for Galway’s Pearse Stadium are being investigated by the local GAA organisation.

THOUSANDS of community workers took to the streets of Dublin in protest at proposed cuts they say will undermine essential community services.

THE GAA must address rural de-population, and should consider reducing 15-a-side games in some competitions, the new chairman of the Connacht Council, Paddy Naughton, told annual convention in Castlebar last night.

GALWAY GAA delegates last night gave their backing for their senior hurlers to move into the Leinster championship — despite most of the top officers in the county vehemently opposing it.

Derry 7-23 Monaghan 3-13

RADIO star Gerry Ryan has received a major reprimand from the broadcasting authorities for holding a crude discussion about sex toys during his morning show on 2FM last April.

OTHER than Sligo expressing opposition to their minor re-fixture being brought back to Galway on Saturday, there was general agreement yesterday on the decision to call off the Connacht SFC quarter-final between Galway and Sligo in Pearse Stadium because of the condition of the pitch.

THE Heineken Cup rugby semi-final in Lansdowne Road is casting a long shadow over GAA activity on Sunday, with 14 teams scheduled to be in action at four venues.

GAA PRESIDENT Sean Kelly is on a collision course with the colleges and vocational schools authorities over his proposal to amalgamate the administrative side of both bodies, one of the last acts of his presidency.

“The GAA President’s Awards are about rewarding the volunteer. It’s about recognising the voluntary efforts of GAA members who seek nothing in return, work that has been going on for over one hundred years.” - GAA president Sean Kelly.

THE decision to stage the first of the Coca Cola International Rules Tests at Pearse Stadium in Salthill in October has been welcomed by the GAA in Galway.

MARTS: A top price of €3,400 was paid for an outstanding Charolais bullock, winner of the overall reserve Championship of the Show at the Annual Fat Stock Show and Sale at Kilmallock Mart, County Limerick.

GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell believes the GAA should appoint professional referees.

GAA president Sean McCague has set up a sub-committee to review the association's rule-book following the huge number of club and county controversies this year.