The recent announcement by the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) of further major endorsement deals is a development with profound implications for the future of Gaelic games in Ireland.

At the same time, it was a development which was simply waiting to happen, given the ineptitude of the GAA's response to the formation of the GPA in the first place. Typically, Croke Park's knee-jerk reaction was to regard the GPA as a threat to its authority, rather than a symptom of widely-held and deep-seated resentment among players at the way they have been treated over the years.

Earlier in this century, the GAA became entwined with the Catholic Church and Fianna Fáil to form a political establishment which exerted enormous social control over Irish society. As a result, the GAA ceased being mainly a sporting organisation, and began to lose touch with the most vital part of its structure - namely, the players. This was reflected all over the country in the form of poor competitive structures and poor treatment of players who, especially at intercounty level, put in extraordinary efforts in the interest of club and county. This was tolerated as long as the Association remained not just an amateur, but an amateurish, organisation and as long as players were prepared to put commitment to their parish and county above all other considerations.

However, the huge revenues generated by the unprecedented current popularity of Gaelic games, the advent of corporate boxes, sponsorship and intense media coverage, and the emergence of new social attitudes in the land of the Celtic Tiger have all combined to produce a new perspective among the intercounty players around whom the popularity of the games has been built. As usual, rather than anticipating and accommodating change, the GAA - at heart a profoundly conservative organisation - is now forced to come to terms with it on terms not of its own choosing.

The GPA says it is not looking for payment for playing, and this has to be accepted at face value. My own view is that, ultimately, what the players are looking for is respect and appreciation of their contribution to the games' current standing. Despite recurring reports of poor treatment of players, in terms of access to post-match facilities at big games, access to tickets for big games in which they are involved, access to functions on the part of their wives and partners, and even decent meals and expenses when attending training sessions which have become much more frequent and demanding in recent years, they still felt that their needs were always way down the list of the Association's priorities.

An Moltóir shares the view that full professionalism, i.e. pay for play, would destroy the essence of Gaelic games, as it would inevitably sever the link between the players and their localities which has been the sheet anchor of the games' popularity. However, I do believe that players should be treated better in terms of expenses, equipment, end-of-season holidays, etc. And, while I would not like to see the revenue from games going to player remuneration, I cannot see any objection in principle to players receiving remuneration from sponsorship and endorsement deals. However, it is vital that such remuneration should recognise that hurling and Gaelic football are team games, and that the money concerned should be equitably divided out among team squads, rather than being targetted on individual stars.

This is one big concern I have with the deal announced by the GPA, which gives 80 per cent to the individual players concerned, and 20 per cent to the GPA itself, without any reference to the teams without whom the star players could not function. I reckon that 50% to the individual players, 30% to their team squads, and 20% to the GPA, would have been a more appropriate distribution. The alternative proposal of the GAA was something along these lines. However, I believe that the players are profoundly opposed to the idea of any of the money going directly to the GAA, as provided for in the GAA's own proposals. They reckon that the GAA gets enough money from other sources and frankly wouldn't trust the Association to utilise the money they might get from endorsement in ways which would improve the players' lot in any meaningful way.

On a broader front, the GAA might well consider how the way the games have been developing has led to the current situation, and whether this situation is in the long-term interest of Gaelic games generally. I am referring here to the increasing demands being placed on intercounty players in terms of training and preparation of county teams. On the one hand, players are looking for some form of appropriate recompense for the enormous time and effort being required of them - especially given the ridiculous situation where the great majority of players will only get one or two games out of all this effort. At the same time, the clubs - the basic units of the GAA - and the club competitions are suffering from the increased demands being placed on the time of the intercounty players. This is a problem which is made worse by the increasing size of intercounty squads.

It appears to me that, increasingly, many intercounty players are becoming detached from their clubs, with whom they play very rarely. In fact, in some cases it may be that players regard games with their clubs as occasions when they risk getting injuries which could threaten their participation with the county team. At the same time, dedicated club players may become alienated when they have to make way for the intercounty players on big match occasions, having filled in for them during the routine league and other club games.

The way things are going at the moment, the GAA is clearly moving towards the situation which has emerged in rugby, where the primary focus of the newly professional players has become the provincial team, with their clubs becoming almost an afterthought. If the GAA wishes to maintain the primacy of the club unit in the organisation, then it will have to step in and reduce the level of demands being placed on county squads by, for example, insisting that county players be made available to play in all competitive club games, and be allowed to train regularly with their clubs. Alternatively, the GAA should go the whole hog and allow the creation of county squads whose members have no club affiliation whatever. However, if they are to go down this road at all, it may be better to allow the emergence of elite clubs in each county which will compete on the national stage. Then the bigger counties could have several such clubs, among whom the best players in the county would be divided up. This would give a single elite club from a smaller county, with all the best players from that county on board, a better chance of national competitive success.