Long-standing GAA official John Costigan says the vast majority of director general Páraic Duffy’s burnout, welfare and fixtures proposals must be endorsed by Congress next month – but is opposed to the implementation of the calendar year.

I left home on Sunday morning last week at 10.15am to go to Semple Stadium to help out as a voluntary steward at the triple header hurling games at the venue.

Tommy Toomey called his players into the dressing room at Semple Stadium on the Tuesday evening after their historic All-Ireland U21 semi-final win.

Cork chairman Bob Ryan expressed his delight that Páirc Uí Chaoimh will bow out by staging the county’s Munster SHC final against Limerick on July 13.

Tipperary GAA chairman Sean Nugent has accused the Gaelic Players Association of hampering his county’s fundraising initiatives in the USA.

Tipperary GAA officials slashed expenditure by over €1m in the last 12 months.

Tipperary chief Sean Nugent has insisted the GAA must revisit their controversial sideline regulations.

Kerry’s Tony O’Keeffe has been appointed as successor to Clare’s Simon Moroney as chairman of the powerful Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC).

Members of the Tipperary hurling team yesterday took time away from preparing for tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final to support their team-mate John O’Brien as he buried his older brother who died during the week.

OUTGOING chairman Barry O’Brien admitted last night that Tipperary GAA’s 2011 financial accounts make for grim reading and represent a “serious problem.”

AS treasurer Eamonn Buckley told delegates after the 2008 accounts showed almost a 50% jump from the previous year’s figures: “You won’t have success without cost.”

LIMERICK and Wexford have reacted strongly against the decision to restructure the Allianz Hurling League from next year.

TIPPERARY delegates last night voted in a new system for the 2011 county senior hurling championship — with a proposal to cap the number of competing teams at 32.

AS a Tipperary man, former county chairman John Costigan took great pleasure in reading outgoing selector Eamon O’Shea’s interview with The Irish Examiner before Christmas.

MUNSTER COUNCIL chiefs aim to bring a motion to GAA Congress seeking for the term of treasurer in county boards and provincial councils to be extended to six years.

FORMER Tipperary chairman John Costigan revealed that “one of the best discussions the county board has had this year” took place in Thurles before delegates gave the interim agreement a resounding thumbs up.

World renowned playwright Brian Friel joined the walk of fame at one of Dublin’s top theatres today.

WE HAD another stumble at the Munster U21 Hurling Final last Wednesday night. Tipp and Clare, not for the first time, served up a thriller before a massive crowd of 12,000 people. Everything was totally sporting and the hurling was excellent.

THE TO-DO list was pretty long in Semple Stadium, but over eighteen months they ticked all the boxes Floodlights.

GPA national development officer Dara McGarty has welcomed the establishment of a club/county taskforce by the GAA, which he believes will get a better deal for all concerned.

ONE of the more interesting motions debated at the week-end GAA Congress came at the very end of the Saturday session and, through an oversight, wasn’t even included in the agenda. Dealing with the topical issue with the age eligibility of young players for the various championship grades, it came from Tipperary. And, according to board chairman John Costigan it was “about the survival” of 25 clubs in the county.

Delegates at today's GAA Special Congress at Croke Park have overwhelmingly passed a motion to change the format of the 2008 All-Ireland hurling championship by the required two-thirds majority.

Former selector John Owens has been unveiled as Tipperary's new senior footballer manager.

“I THINK it’s a great honour,” said Ronnie Drew, the seventh luminary to make his Gaiety Theatre imprint.

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.

SPORTS Minister John O’Donoghue has applauded the GAA for allowing soccer and rugby to be played in Croke Park next year.

FORMER Tipperary manager Len Gaynor has expressed concern about the restrictions placed on clubs in regard to age limitations at different levels.

THE time has come to stop the “madness” of over-training players, said outgoing Tipperary Chairman Donal Shanahan in his address to yesterday’s annual convention in Thurles.

Jim O’Sullivan

NIALL TÓIBÍN has ‘cemented’ his reputation as one of the leading actors of his generation by adding his hand prints to the plaza outside the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.

The death has occurred of Brother Joseph Perkins who passed away on Thursday morning. Brother Perkins was associated with the GAA in Tipperary for many years.

Dan Buckley

ANNA MANAHAN was delighted yesterday to receive recognition for her acting talents. Her handprints are immortalised on the forecourt of Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, a distinction she shares with two other legends.

A FORMER ministerial driver yesterday assumed high office himself.

DE La Salle, Waterford expect to be at full strength for tomorrow’s Dean Ryan Cup semi-final meeting with Our Lady’s Templemore at Ardfinnan (1.30 p.m.).