Brennan's bred to overhaul grassroots of Association
The thorny issue of Rule 42 has dominated discussion about the candidacies of Nicky Brennan and Christy Cooney, and former Kilkenny hurler Brennan readily admits there are "some differences" between his views and those of Cooney.
Whether this will influence counties he is unsure, but he argues that it shouldn't.
"Both of us hold views that are held honestly and fairly. I think it would be rather strange if the presidency were to be decided on one issue that at the end of the day is not particularly important and is clouding a lot of other, more important matters that the GAA has to address," he says.
On the understanding that Lansdowne Road won't close for redevelopment for possibly a few years, he favours Central Council being given the responsibility to consider any request for the use of Croke Park.
Right now, he doesn't believe the issue is "critical" to the Association from an overall point of view.
"To decide now on something that firstly might never be relevant, and secondly might not be relevant for a couple of years, could be preempting something that circumstances could change along the way.
"We would be better off to keep an open mind and the best way to do that is to allow Central Council address it if and when it becomes relevant in the next couple of years.
"The first part of the process is pretty black and white. We either allow Central Council consider the matter as and when it arises, or we decide we won't do anything and that's the end of it.
"What's not at stake here at any stage is the deletion of Rule 42 from the Official Guide. We need that there to safeguard all other venues."
When he talks about the "more important" issues confronting them, he agrees that one of the biggest challenges is to get people interested in running clubs.
"Equally, clubs must be able to cope with changing demographics, of increasing numbers of people moving from their traditional bases to urban areas.
"In terms of the local club, this can be both challenging and opportunistic. Those which are properly structured will attract new members and expand but they'll need new personnel. That's the real challenge, because the days of having two or three people run a club for 20 or 30 years are as good as over.
"What we have to work at is encouraging parents to get involved when their children are joining and 'upskill' them in terms of coaching and administration.
"They need to know that we only expect them to stay for a couple of years in these positions. That way they will pass through the system with their children and somebody else following on will pick up the reins. Instead of semi-permanent volunteers, we will have transitional volunteers.
"If people feel that their commitment to the club will only be a few hours a week, they will be more inclined to come in rather than being there every evening and every Sunday morning.
"I remain confident that once we get across to parents that their involvement is limited to certain periods or a certain amount of hours, they will be prepared to help. We shouldn't expect people to give their lives to it."
CLUBS will need to produce short, medium and long-term plans which will be reviewed and updated. In the future, grant aid will be based on a club's ability to submit plans and show how they are going forward.
These which are not professionally organised "will quickly fall down the ladder".
Another priority has to be the observance of the Association's 'Code of Ethics,' in dealing with young children. Clubs must have a very clear policy and implement it. Officers will need to be quite clear in regard to their obligations. One incident in this "sensitive area" is one too much, he stresses.
Back in 1994, when chairman of the Kilkenny board, Brennan made a landmark speech at the Congress in Cavan when he warned that hurling "could die on its feet" if remedial action wasn't taken quickly.
Eleven years on he still has concerns, pointing out that while more people are playing the game, and its popularity is strong, the level of competitiveness among the top counties hasn't improved.
"Hopefully the process that is under way now, with the (upcoming) appointment of a Hurling Director, will see an improvement over the next couple of years.
"This initiative is primarily going to focus on counties where there is a genuine opportunity to improve standards and make them more competitive. It's not that the rest of the counties are going to be ignored, but everybody cannot not be treated at the very same level at the same time.
"It may not show dividends for some period of time, but foundations must be put in place, with a strong person driving that and ensuring he is enthusing the various people on the ground. That's critical to the process.
"When I spoke at Congress that time, it was quite clear that the amount of hurling on the ground and the level of competition was very skimpy. Some of the phraseology I used was meant to dramatise, but it probably wasn't too far off the mark.
"In fairness to subsequent presidents, they recognised that hurling was at a stage where it needed some extra help and out of that, various promotional schemes were formed. Hopefully this new initiative will be the catalyst which will drive things forward.
"We need to get the top layer more competitive, but in relation to Tier 2 and Tier 3, if these competitions are taken seriously by the counties it may very well lay out a very clear stall as to the structure of the championship going forward.
"I'm delighted it's being tried but there is a major challenge to those counties to make those competitions successful. If they are, they could very well be the saviour of hurling in those areas."
HE sees a parallel between his 1994 warning on hurling and the views of the Leinster and Connacht Secretaries questioning the value of the Under-21 championships. The effect has been to focus minds on the issue of burnout among the younger players.
"Inter-county players are younger, there are less players playing beyond 30 and less married players,'' he said.
It's the result of the pressure they are under, the level of training and their general lifestyle.
"The inter-varsity competitions, the Sigerson and the Fitzgibbon, have become a lot more competitive, which means that players are heavily involved in a training programme with their third level college.
"At the same time we have the Under-21 championships starting, clubs beginning their leagues and players also involved in senior potentially serving four managers. That's an impossible situation for a young player trying to make a breakthrough on to the senior team and trying to be all things to all people.
"Mickey Harte would be a strong advocate of Under-21. He has a relationship with the other managers, which means he is able to communicate with them and lay out a programme. There's no point in playing an inter-varsity match on a Wednesday and going off to train with the county the following night.
"The secret is to schedule a level of training commensurate with a player's ability to take this on board.
"Ultimately it will be down to county boards. If order can be brought to it, there is nothing wrong with Under-21 per se. But managers have to be told that they cannot 'flog' players."
On the issue of managers being paid, Brennan points out that the Association has a continuing difficulty in "detecting where this is happening and coming up with absolute proof".
Interestingly, he feels it's a bigger problem at club level. Here, he says, individuals are "creaming it" and in many cases, "delivering a significantly inferior service".
"There are lots of people in clubs who would be far better, but there is a myth that you have to bring in somebody from a neighbouring parish to get your players going," he added.
As Chairman of the Task Force on hurling, he regrets that they didn't have the benefit of serious competitive hurling with the original version of the experimental rules.
Subsequent criticism from a variety of quarters placed him in a difficult position, but it was something he didn't wish to talk about.
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