Kelly plans to step up bid for State funding

GAA President Sean Kelly will step up the association's lobbying for government funding following the announcement this week that the Cabinet has pledged €190m to redeveloping Lansdowne Road as a national stadium.

Speaking yesterday after returning from the Allstars tour to Phoenix and Las Vegas, the Kerry native wasted little time in spelling out his strategy.

"I would like to congratulate the government and everyone involved in the decision to develop Lansdowne Road," Kelly said. "I think it's a good thing for sport in the country and also for us and we look forward to continuing and finalising our own negotiations with the government to see what funding we can get.

"Like I said, we came home from Las Vegas broke so we'd be delighted with any few bob we can get."

Kelly's comments may have been light-hearted but the government will know they will now come under increased pressure to go back on their earlier decision to withhold the €38m of the €76m the association was originally due to receive from State funds some years back.

With the NFL opening under Pairc Uí Rhínn's lights tomorrow it was also an opportune time for Kelly to declare his hopes that more such games could be arranged. "I would like to see more games played under floodlights, but we've only a couple of grounds really Austin Stack Park and Pairc Uí Rhínn. But we need to have far more floodlit games and having more floodlights in grounds is something we're really going to have look at," he said.

"There's tremendous potential there to organise our schedules in a much more pleasing way from the public point of view.

"Maybe we could have games on Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday nights. It would maximise our exposure and give counties the opportunity to play far more games at club level."

Kelly also reiterated his belief that the current system of freezing suspensions during the months of December and January was becoming outdated.

"One of the things that was noticeable before Christmas and into January, and it was the same this time last year, is that the schedule is pretty packed now," he explained.

"This idea of freezing December and January for suspensions is becoming a bit meaningless and almost impossible to manage. We will be recommending to Congress that, that stipulation is done away with". Another man eager to see suspensions revised is Tommy Lyons who will be without Declan O'Mahony for Sunday's league opener against Tyrone because of the player's misdemeanour in the reality TV game against the Underdogs late last year.