On the brink of a new era

We are on the brink of a new era as it seems that the grants scheme will get the backing of Congress this weekend.
I think the GAA has done its home work, the debate is nearly over and I think we will all find in the months ahead that the scheme will not be the end of the association as we know it but simply recognition of the huge change which has already occurred within our games and in Irish society in the last 15 to 20 years.
I'm glad that the debate will be heard and will come to a conclusion.
I think we have much more difficult challenges in the GAA than the players' grant scheme, tackling the challenges of soccer, rugby and to a lesser extent the AFL.
There are also huge challenges being posed by the growth of individual sports as opposed to team games, the growing inactivity of a younger generation hooked on computer games and junk food who can't run the length of themselves, the changing demography in rural areas as local clubs find they will no longer be able to depend on the traditional big families to swell their ranks.
We need too to spread the country's hurling base.
Sounds tough, but we are the biggest sporting association in the country, we have a developing women's game, great sports, better grounds at all levels, improved coaching and in the debate on the grants scheme we have shown a maturity when it comes to debating and dealing with change.
The GAA is the greatest organisation on this island, let's continue to build it.