GAA rivalry has long pitted parish against parish and turned county against county, but it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe at the funeral of Dublin football hero Kevin Heffernan.

Former GAA president Dr Mick Loftus was amongst the attendance yesterday at the funeral Mass of Down-born Joe McGrath who achieved notable successes as a hurling, football and camogie coach over the past 40 years while living in Cork.

Former GAA president Dr Mick Loftus will attend his first All-Ireland hurling final in 15 years on Sunday after lifting a self-imposed ban over the sponsorship of the competition by Guinness.

THE GAA should continue accepting sponsorship from drinks companies until the government tells them not to, according to the association’s alcohol abuse prevention co-ordinator.

THE GAA should ban all alcohol advertising if they are serious about tackling a serious problem in Irish society.

THE man behind the motion to revive the All-Ireland Masters series has expressed disappointment after it was rejected at the GAA’s Annual Congress last weekend.

GAA chiefs remain in the dark about Director General Paraic Duffy’s plans for his much anticipated paper on illegal payments to club and county managers.

I WELCOME the decision of Judge Tom O’Donnell to grant an exemption to certain Limerick publicans from the Good Friday licensing laws.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese were represented by their respective aides-de-camp at the funeral yesterday of former GAA president Pat Fanning in Waterford.

BY his own admission, GAA President Christy Cooney favoured “fresh blood” in is choice of chairmen of 31 national committees, which he announced at a meeting of the Central Council in Cork following the completion of Congress.

A POWERFUL light of hope and support was shone yesterday into one of the dark corners of rural Ireland — loneliness among older men living alone.

CHRISTY COONEY may gain some reassurance from the knowledge that only once in the last ten elections has the runner-up the previous time not been chosen President of the GAA and he remains favourite to edge out Liam O’Neill and Sean Fogarty in this afternoon’s vote at Congress in Sligo.

WE have been down this road before — many times in fact, since the beginning of the experiment in 1984.

CHRISTY COONEY is set to become the next president of the GAA, and the campaign to alter Rule 42 looks likely to be successful.

IN an effort to provide an alcohol-free environment in which young people can enjoy themselves, moves are being made to form a No Name Club in Killarney.

EXTRA gardaí will be on stand-by this weekend amid fears that the trouble which led to hundreds of arrests during St Patrick’s Day celebrations might spill over.

GAA President Sean Kelly last night admitted that “the sanctity of the referee and respect for his decisions is something the Association could borrow from sports such as rugby.”

THE recommendations of the GAA task force on Alcohol and Substance Abuse have been broadly welcomed across the Association.

A RECENTLY retired coroner has revealed that 60% of cases he dealt with during his 32 years in the job were alcohol-related.

MONEY being traced by tribunals and earned from offshore accounts could be spent on education to help tackle binge drinking and drug taking by young people, Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland president Pat Cahill said last night.

THE Government should do more to increase awareness about the problem of binge drinking among teenagers, the head of a teachers union said last night.

GAA CHIEFS have shelved plans to open up Croke Park to other sports by taking the matter off the agenda for next month’s annual congress.

WE drink more and work harder and longer than our counterparts in the North, according to latest official figures.

FORMER presidents of the GAA have criticised those who personalized their attacks on Sean Kelly over the opening of Croke Park to other sports.

“A STORM in a teacup,” is how Offaly PRO Pat Teehan, last night described the defection of the three Whelahan brothers from the county panel.

GAA chiefs will meet with Guinness later this year to discuss the future sponsorship of the All-Ireland Hurling Championships.

PEOPLE have to change their unhealthy attitude to alcohol, President Mary McAleese warned yesterday.

PARENTS should have to pay medical costs arising from treatment of children who are injured due to alcohol abuse, Minister of State Noel Ahern told a conference on addiction yesterday.

Former GAA president Dr Mick Loftus has emerged as a leader in the campaign to ban alcohol companies from sponsoring football and hurling championships.

FORMER president Mick Loftus believes the GAA will come under increasing pressure to end its link with Guinness through its sponsorship of the All-Ireland hurling championship because of the problem of alcohol abuse among the youth of the country.