Presidential election: After the high drama of the early afternoon, the presidential election came as something of a shock. In a room spent of emotion, Nickey Brennan and Christy Cooney had been on tenterhooks all day.
While the rest of the country had become utterly absorbed on the issue or Rule 42, both men were left to agonise alone on whether they might become the next president of the GAA.
The closeness of the result, 171 to 154, Brennan's humble acceptance speech and Cooney's grave and dignified salute perhaps restored some perspective to an afternoon of stark philosophical and instinctual division.
Whether Cooney's ballot was affected by the hardline stance his Cork County Board comrades took on Rule 42 must remain a matter for conjecture.
Afterwards Brennan declared he did not believe the two issues crossed over. Many others were not so certain. But while there was a widespread feeling of sympathy for the Cork man, Brennan was a popular choice.
An All-Ireland medal-winning hurler of Kilkenny's 1970s vintage, he cut his administrative cloth in Leinster, gaining a reputation as an affable and honest chairman of that provincial council. He spoke with genuine astonishment about how someone from a village like Ballyragget could rise to the most coveted position in the GAA and talked about the sheer awfulness of waiting for the vote, which was taken after five o'clock.
"I thought it was never going to end, I just wanted to be put out of my misery. I am probably more relieved than shocked. I felt in my heart that my numbers were stacking up. I briefly went into the management lunch - I wasn't fit to eat - and they briefly brought up the possibility of a tie. That's the way people were thinking. It was always going to be that way."
Although reluctant to outline his manifesto until Seán Kelly has completed his term, Brennan was inevitably requested to comment on the removal of Rule 42. The probability is that if the exotic stars of the Premiership and the Six Nations are to roam Croke Park, it will be under Brennan's watch.
"I suppose it is going to be easy for me to remember the day I was elected," he sighed. "It was quite a historic day for the GAA. I think it was enormously important as there was a great groundswell of opinion that we should show our neighbourliness to those sports who were experiencing difficulty developing their own grounds.
"But let us be clear we are talking about a period when Lansdowne Road is being developed. At a particular point in time, bulldozers will move in there. So I don't want to hear anything said now that what is temporary should be permanent. It most certainly will not."
After losing out on the narrow margin of 17, Cooney stated his intention to maintain his involvement with his local club in Youghal.
"Naturally I am disappointed. But you have to be prepared to take the rough with the smooth. This was a campaign contested in a fair way and without rancour. And I want to thank Nickey very sincerely for that. And, Nickey, I wish you every success in the years ahead. The association is facing many challenges but I have no doubt you will carry them off with the aplomb you have carried off all the duties as an officer of this association over many years. Every success to you."
The strength of Cooney's vote suggests that should he seek election after Brennan's term he stands an exceptionally strong chance of being successful.
