Colin Sheridan: As GAA leader Jarlath Burns needs to learn the value of silence

History may judge his presidency less on the positions he took than by the frequency with which he felt compelled to take them.

Gaelic Athletic Association Uachtarán Jarlath Burns addresses the audience during an All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship media event hosted by Blarney GAA. Picture Chani Anderson

There are few sporting images more perfect than the one that greeted Jarlath Burns on the final Sunday of July 2024. Armagh had just won their first All-Ireland football title since 2002. The county of his birth was celebrating a triumph a generation in the making. His son, Jarly Óg, was on the field. The ball was in his hands when the final whistle sounded. And standing in the Hogan Stand, preparing to present Sam Maguire, was the president of the GAA himself.

For Burns, it should have been the defining image of his presidency. An Armagh man presiding over one of the proudest days in his county's history. A president embodying the qualities the office has traditionally represented: stewardship, continuity, service and respect for an institution larger than any individual.