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Last weekend was a big one for the GAA. Special Congress made some very real and important decisions and in my opinion most of them were of a very progressive nature.

Mayo playwright Benny McDonnell’s popular production about a hurling-mad Kilkenny youth Down Under is back on the road for a nationwide tour and returns to Kilkenny this weekend in time to celebrate the county’s recent All-Ireland triumphs.

Have you ever wondered about the effect a manager can have on a group of footballers? Let me highlight just one example of how a single individual has transformed the fortunes and the mood of a club in the space of a week. We are witnessing an astonishing turnaround in the fortunes of Spurs in a matter of days, since the arrival of new manager, Harry Redknapp. I take a casual interest in the fortunes of this particular team as my wife Audrey is a lifelong supporter of the Spurs. In the last few months we witnessed one of the biggest clubs in England with big star players struggling in the relegation zone of the Premier League and facing relegation if the fortunes of the club didn’t improve immediately. Harry arrives on the scene and within days these underperforming stars are like men inspired. They grabbed their second thrilling comeback in five days last weekend, this time against table toppers Liverpool. I am perplexed and slightly intrigued as to how Harry has got them into a team of believers, with the mood of the club changed considerably in the space of a few days. People within the club have suggested that the fun has returned to the training ground and now everyone feels part of the team. Another suggested that they are now treated with respect. Harry apparently told them they were good players! This would suggest that previous management didn’t tell them that! Under previous manager Ramos a number of first team regulars were banished to the reserves without explanation, in the process undermining the morale and camaraderie within the whole group. There is a lesson here for all managers. If you lose the dressing room, in other words the very people you are expected to inspire and develop into a winning team, they will lose confidence in your ability to lead them. This should be the signal for you to walk.

I got word earlier in the week that the wagons were circling ahead of Mayo’s GAA County Board convention on Tuesday night last at the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris. It appears that Noelle Horan, the outgoing PRO, had a major difference of opinion with a number of county board officers regarding restrictions on her access to the county team’s dressing-room earlier this year. “Access all areas” apparently wasn’t a problem under the previous management and it would seem there wasn’t too much of a problem regarding her access to the dressing room earlier this year under the current management. Obviously something went awry at some juncture that sullied what appeared up to then to be the perfect harmonious relationship. There had been a number of verbal clashes at earlier meetings and it was generally felt that things might get a little ugly at the convention on Tuesday night. There was no pairing system in place for this meeting with all county board officers expected to attend to display a collective unity against the maverick! My informant tells me that Ms Horan distributed a pre-prepared script which she later read from. She had a right swipe at the county board executive, outlining instances when she was “constructively prevented” from performing her duties and other occasions when she was “repeatedly undermined” by members of the board. Her own club member, Mr Sean Feeney, the county secretary, came in for scathing criticism from her, suggesting that he had no right to criticise players for doing certain media work. The suggestion was that Mr Feeney wasn’t shy of using the airways himself when it suited him. It is difficult to comprehend what caused such a breakdown in “the family”, but I would offer that it will be quite some time, if ever, before we see Ms Horan seek a nomination to become an officer of the Mayo County Board.

What do you get the sports-mad person for Christmas when you know they have all the memorabilia that is available to date. Well how about a beautiful coffee table book entitled ‘A Season of Sundays.’

Next Friday morning, International Rules will visit our screens for the first time since 2006. Following the violent scenes that marred the second test in Croke Park two years ago, the concept is very much on probation with both camps fully aware that any further flashpoints could spell the end for the hybrid game.

So at 'half-time' in the Toyota International Rules series, Ireland hold a slender one-point advantage over Australia. Despite the host's stirring late fight back, there was a school of thought that Ireland may have missed a trick by not playing more positively with an extra-man advantage in the closing minutes.

Over the past few weeks and right up to the middle of January 2009 county boards and clubs will be holding their AGMs and releasing their accounts for the club delegates and club members to study. Some of the figures that are in the public domain already make for scary bedtime reading for those charged with raising the revenue to keep the wheels greased and turning. For example, the Waterford hurling board spent nearly €2 million in preparing their teams in 2008. The Galway hurlers cost over €1 million to keep on the road last season and they didn’t even reach the last four. How much would it have cost if they got to the final?

Over the past few weeks, and right up to the middle of January 2009, county boards and clubs will be holding their AGMs and releasing their accounts for the club delegates and club members to study.

Over the past few weeks and right up to the middle of January 2009 county boards and clubs will be holding their AGMs and releasing their accounts for the club delegates and club members to study. Some of the figures that are in the public domain already make for scary bed-time reading for those charged with raising the revenue to keep the wheels greased and turning. For example - the Waterford hurling board spent nearly €2 million in preparing their teams in 2008. The Galway hurlers cost over €1 million to keep on the road last season and they didn’t even reach the last four. How much would it have cost if they had got to the final?