It never fails to astonish me that so much venom exists out there towards the GAA. Here we have a most elaborate organisation which operates in every parish in the country and which does extraordinary work for the young people in every corner of Ireland, and yet there are so many begrudgers!

This hatred of the GAA was demonstrated by a conversation I heard on a bus (overheard actually) about the recent draw between Clare and Galway in the All-Ireland championship quarter-final at Croke Park. The referee, Padraig Horan from Offaly, it was being alleged, had a dishonest motive in ending the match when the two sides were level. It was suggested that Horan ended the match then and there in order to make vast sums of money for the GAA by way of a replay. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people always suspect that the GAA is completely devoted to ripping everyone off.

As has been pointed out in this column before, no other sports body is more open and transparent about their financial affairs than the GAA. At the same time as these criticisms of the GAA are being regularly expressed, there is also constant sniping about the fact that players are not being paid, that the knockout situation is unfair, that the National League is a devalued entity, that the tax-payers are subsidising the GAA, that the GAA will not allow members of the British Army or RUC to join, that there is inherent religious discrimination - the list goes on and on.

This hatred of the national body is difficult to understand. Not long ago on a rainy afternoon, instead of walking to Croke Park to a match by way of Gill's noble pub, I took a taxi and the driver, a Dub judging by his accent, confessed that he had never been to Croke Park.

"What's it like?" he asked. I decided to keep my opinion and my temper to myself. "They're all a shower of culchies," he said as he detected my annoyance.

My attitude to him was not helped by the fact that Dublin were playing. On another occasion this same culchie had to guide another taxi driver to Parnell Park as he, another Dub, clearly believed that Parnell Park was on the Navan Road.

In this context the recent conflict between the Government and the FAI with regard to the building of a National Stadium, where it should be and who should build it for whom, would have been amusing if it hadn't been so pathetic.

Some rich men who live in tax-free exile have offered their support for one of the schemes, while the Government have offered support for the other. At the same time out of its own coffers the GAA has built several stadiums across the country.

In Cork there are two GAA stadiums capable of holding big crowds, one of which was abandoned by the soccer people. The are two fine stadiums in Kerry - Killarney and Tralee - there is a fine stadium in Limerick . . . the list is a long one.

All of this has been done by voluntary effort, by sheer enthusiasm and dedication. Croke Park is the biggest building project ever attempted in this country and still the begrudgers continue to jibe.

We are all well served in this country by many, many people who devote much of their spare time to promoting the interests of young sporting people. The Football Association of Ireland, the Irish Rugby Football Union, Bord Luthchleas na hEireann and the national organisations which run tennis, swimming, badminton and several other leisure activities all do a sterling job. Yet some, like the two men on the bus who I happened to come across, can find time to denigrate men like Padraig Horan for doing their job to the best of their abilities. The hurlers of Clare and Galway had hurled their hearts out at Croke Park that day. They provided one of the classic hurling matches and provided all the fans with a pulsating climax.

It would have been a travesty if either team had won that the day. Both deserved another chance. Sadly the cynicism that has crept into many sports, both on and off the field, was reflected by my two friends on the bus. In my view what inspires this is an innate feeling of envy.

People who boast about hating Manchester United or The Dubs or the Cork hurling team are often sad individuals. We owe a lot to the young people who provide us with endless hours of enjoyment and entertainment. Whether or not they make vast sums of money, or whether they do it for their love of the sport, they deserve our respect.

Let us celebrate their achievements, particularly the many young hurlers and footballers who play under the banner of the GAA, and who display the pride of their parish and county whenever they take the field.