Criticism by the Minister for Health Micheál Martin of the Guinness sponsorship of the All-Ireland hurling championship has been described as "very unfair" and "disappointing" by the GAA president Seán Kelly. Ian O'Riordan reports.

In taking a much stronger stance on the issue, Kelly rejected the Minister's comments that the Guinness support of the hurling championship "is the wrong message to be sending out to young people", which he made earlier this week.

"Those comments really disappointed me," said Kelly, "mostly because the GAA has again been singled out. The association is well aware of the concerns out there, but picking out the sponsorship with Guinness is unfair, and this is not the first time it has happened.

"It seems to be the only one that is being mentioned in public, but you have exactly the same thing going on in soccer, in rugby, in tennis, in snooker, in Formula One and horse racing and so on. None of these ever seem to get mentioned.

"So I think there is a tendency out there now that if you want to kick someone in the backside, then you kick the GAA. Well from now on we're not going to be an easy target. If someone wants to kick us in the backside, we'll give two back."

Kelly also highlighted the fact that the GAA were the last of all sporting organisations to accept sponsorship from a drinks company, back in 1995.

"And we would also regard Guinness as very responsible sponsors. We were aware of the issues at the very beginning, and that's why we were reluctant to take it on board. But we negotiated it in such a way as to ensure the sponsorship would be used to promote hurling as far as possible. And I think Guinness has done a great job in doing that."

The GAA deal with Guinness has another year to run, and Kelly said there are no plans at this stage to end that deal.

"We intend to keep our side of that bargain. We don't pull out in the middle of something without having very strong reasons to do so, and I think that by pulling you would be saying that alcohol is actually the cause of the abuse, and as far as I'm concerned it's not. It has been there long before it."

It was also disappointing, said Kelly, that so many people still don't appreciate all the positive work that GAA is doing in actually improving the lifestyle of young people in Ireland.

"In fact I was fortunate enough to take a helicopter flight recently, from Killarney up to Monaghan. Up on a Saturday evening, and down on the Sunday. And every town we passed over there were people out on the GAA fields. And in fact I saw very little other activity.

"And that just reminded me what goes on. Most people see things in isolation. But we have put facilities in parishes all around the country, and work them on a voluntary basis, and take thousands of young people into sport and steer them in the right path for life. I don't think that's appreciated, and not just by the Government.

"Anyone that gets involved with the GAA has a concern for the welfare of our youth. We will do whatever we can to help alleviate this terrible scourge, and help young players. If we were to withdraw our sponsorship with Guinness in the morning I think it would make very little difference."

The Gaelic Players Association (GPA), meanwhile, has reiterated its stance on the matter of proposed elections for a Croke Park controlled players' body, stating that it would not enjoy the support of the GPA membership.

"Our incentive and mandate to remain wholly autonomous remains steadfast," said GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell, "and the GPA has and will continue to provide a level of consistency and autonomy that Croke Park simply cannot offer."