Few will be surprised at the result of the Gaelic Players' Association (GPA) ballot, which came out emphatically in favour of county players withdrawing from all GAA inter-county fixtures from the commencement of next season in two months' time.
The frustration of the players and their intention to make a stand on what they perceived to have been foot dragging by both Government and Croke Park authorities in relation to the player grants issue has been plain for some time.
There have been enough positive indications from all three parties, nonetheless, to suggest that the issue at the heart of the dispute is likely to be resolved in the current discussions between the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the GAA and the GPA. Consequently it is to be hoped that the threatened strike, which would be divisive and damaging for both the GAA and the GPA, won't have to be mobilised.
The decision to withdraw from intercounty activity may appear unduly aggressive when the central issue is currently being addressed. But it has to be accepted that the grants proposal, based on the cultural value of Gaelic games to the wider community, is one in which the GPA has invested much effort and one which the players perceive to be a litmus test of the recognition they feel due for all of the unremunerated effort that goes into preparation and training.
Fears among some that the players' organisation has an agenda to promote pay for play are not supported by the stance of GPA officers or indeed the membership at large when it voted on the issue last year. But it doesn't take a crystal ball to foresee that the issue is unlikely to go away in the year to come.
In the meantime the GAA deserves credit for maintaining a low-key approach to what is a problem not of its making in that the grants scheme was formulated by the GPA and the last government, whose minister for sport's fractious dealings with Croke Park officials contributed greatly to the impasse in the first place. Credit is due also to current Minister, Séamus Brennan, whose engagement with the parties has greatly enhanced the prospects of a successful outcome to the talks.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of the issue being resolved would be that the GPA and GAA could then engage without distraction on mapping out a partnership for the future. This should recognise the contribution of county players to the status and finances of Gaelic games as well as the genuine concerns of the GAA about a perceived drift towards pay for play and the attendant dangers to amateurism and volunteerism within the association.