Reports that the GAA authorities have agreed to the formal recognition of the Gaelic Players Association as the representative body for senior inter-county players and the proposed allocation of €1.60m of GAA money to the GPA is in my view a retrograde step. This GAA/GPA proposal, which has yet to be endorsed by GAA Central Council, can only be described as the thin end of the wedge of professionalism. As a life long supporter of both codes at club and inter-county level, I am very aware of the commitment and demands on players, particularly those who play for club and county. Despite the massive commitment of these players, the GPA's intention to set up a "professional elite" must be opposed for the overall good of the association. The commercial self-endorsement of a select elite is anathema to the founding principles of the GAA.

The GAA is an organisation which belongs to us all, the players, the teachers who give their time unselfishly, those who mark the pitches and erect the nets, the umpires, linesmen, coaches, the women who wash the jerseys and supply the tea and sandwiches, the mentors who attend the county boards, those who ferry the boys and girls to matches, the grass cutters, those who organise the raffles and take minutes of the meetings, all done with no monetary rewards, just love of the games. For generations, the GAA in rural town-lands, villages, towns and cities, both in Ireland and abroad, and exclusively on the premise of volunteer participation, turned the GAA into one of the worlds largest and most successful amateur sporting organisations.

This generation does not own the GAA – no one does. We are just the current custodians of an organisation whose sporting and cultural assets are worth guarding zealously. We have a collective duty to future generations to pass on our heritage as it was passed on to us, untainted and unsullied by individual or corporate greed.

Tom Cooper.

23 Delaford Lawn,

Knocklyon,

Dublin 16