Moves are underway to resolve the row over Antrim's sponsorship deal with Bushmills whiskey distillery. At tomorrow's annual convention, county secretary Eamonn McMahon is to voice his unhappiness with the veto placed on the sponsorship during the summer - on the grounds that it conflicted with the interests of the hurling championship's sponsor, Guinness.
A spokesperson for Guinness yesterday told The Irish Times: "Guinness is conscious of the situation and is ready to discuss with the GAA how it may be resolved."
According to McMahon, Guinness in Northern Ireland had approved the Bushmills arrangement but Croke Park and Guinness Ireland subsequently withdrew permission. As a result, the advertising on the Antrim jerseys had to be taped over.
A solution is likely to centre on definitions of a competing product. Whereas whiskey is an alcoholic drink, it's not necessarily in competition with stout.
Five years ago when the Bank of Ireland first sponsored the football championship, they endured the embarrassment of seeing Down - sponsored by Ulster Bank - win the All-Ireland. As that was an obviously conflicting product, the logo was removed from the Down jerseys and the county board was compensated for the loss of sponsorship revenue.
Meanwhile, next February's Ulster Convention will debate a motion which runs counter to the proposals of the Football Development Committee. The FDC's radical blueprint provides for the amalgamation of the National Football League and championship and the adoption of a season based on the calendar year.
Three days ago, however, the Armagh annual convention passed a motion which urges the discontinuance of the current Ulster championship format and the establishment of two groups in which teams would play on a round-robin basis.
Should the provincial convention pass the proposal, it will set Ulster on a course diametrically-opposed to that urged by the FDC, whose plan comes before next April's congress in Galway.
Current estimates see the outcome of the congress vote as too close to call. Cork have decided against supporting the measure, but Kerry gave the plans emphatic approval during the week.
Armagh's proposed Ulster championship reorganisation envisages one group of five counties and another of four. Teams would play each other twice on a home and away basis, with the top two in each group progressing to the semi-finals, where the winners of one group would play the runners-up in the other.
RTE radio's GAA correspondent Brian Carthy has launched his now annual record of the football and hurling championships. Of great appeal to stats fiends and of less dispassionate interest to Cork and Meath folk, The Championship 1999 is now on sale at £11.99.
The Dublin branch of the Clare Supporters Club will be launching their Millennium calendar on Monday at 9.00 in the Clarendon Inn, Clarendon Street. The event will be attended by a number of GAA celebrities. All are welcome.
Pay for play in Gaelic games would ruin the spirit and enthusiasm and destroy the fabric of club and county, Galway county board chairman, Frank Burke, stated during his address at the county convention held in Oranmore on Thursday night.
On the proposals to change the football championship, Burke said: "A challenge facing the GAA and with huge implications for our future is how we respond to the recently-published football development proposals. Unless our genuine fears arising from the proposals are allayed, Galway as a strong dual county and with a pretty strong dual membership within, will find it difficult to support."
GALWAY COUNTY BOARD: Officers for 2000 - President: Fr P Gantley, Ardrahan; Vice-president: M MacDonncha, Ballindereen; N Farragher, Fohenagh; B Murphy, Gort; Chairman: F Burke, Loughrea; Vice-chairman: M Monaghan, Turloughmore; Secretary: B O'Connor, Oranmore-Maree; Assistant secretaries: P Murphy, Turloughmore; J Power, St James; Treasurer: T Kelly, Corofin; Assistant treasurers: M Kelly, Tuam Stars, P Kelly, Kinvara; Development officer: G Larkin, Abbey-Duniry; Ofigeach Gaeilge agus Cultoir: T O Leanachain, Carnmore; Youth Officer: M Bodkin, Padraig Pearses; PRO: N Rotchford, Gort; Connacht Council Reps: P Egan, Corofin, M Monaghan. Central Council delegate: B O'Connor.
