Portlaoise back Parkinson following arrest

THE chairman of Portlaoise GAA club has vowed that they will support captain and inter-county star Colm Parkinson, who was arrested in Athlone on Sunday morning.

"He's served the Portlaoise club very well he's our captain and he's done a fantastic job with the team," said Niall Kavanagh.

"We look forward to him taking us through the Leinster club championship and people should look beyond the headlines and not pre-judge Colm."

Parkinson was arrested after an incident at 1.30am in the Westmeath town involving a number of men, one of whom suffered some injuries.

Meanwhile the GAA's new Club Development and Planning Programme will provide clubs with support to meet future challenges, President Sean Kelly predicted at the launch.

Describing it as an important phase in the further development of the Association, it recognised the clubs as "its driving force".

Close to 2,000 courses are planned for clubs over the next three years. The hope, said Mr Kelly, is that they will prepare units to meet the challenges of the future "in a progressive, efficient and organised manner".

"The amount of work involved in the day-to-day running of our clubs has increased dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years,'' he said.

The programme will encourage clubs to plan to meet their short- and long-term needs, while also seeking to encourage more members to become actively involved in the running of their clubs.

Delivery of the programme has already begun.

More than 100 club planning and development courses and 300 pre-AGM courses will be given before Christmas, while 540 courses will be given annually in the next three years.