BY THE standards of a self admittedly conservative organisation the GAA had a rather outlandish weekend in London at the association's annual congress.

For a start, it was the first congress to be held outside Ireland, and as the delegates arrived, past the big union jack bedecked flag poles of the Royal Lancaster Hotel, there was a sense that important business was to be done.

So it proved. The youngest president in modern times, Joe McDonagh (42) of Galway, was elected and more radically, the thorough reforms of the All Ireland hurling championship were given the go ahead for a two year trial.

Both Saturday's votes were emphatic, with McDonagh defeating Sean McCague of Monaghan by 214 to 103 and the hurling proposals, including most controversially the re entry of beaten Leinster and Munster finalists, achieved a two thirds majority - although a simple majority would have done.

At the end of the afternoon, the margin in favour of McDonagh over McCague was heavier than had been expected a week ago, but more or less in keeping with the forecasts being whispered around Congress at the weekend.

McDonagh, an accomplished orator with a lyrical turn of phrase, made an acceptance speech - without notes - that was both fluent and engaging. His sense of place was reflected in references to his family, his home town of Ballinderreen and his Galway antecedent, Peter J Kelly who served as president of the GAA over 100 years ago.

He referred to his lack of speaking notes by mentioning that the last time he had a script, it had been torn up by Liam Chunky O'Brien and his Kilkenny teammates, who beat Galway, captained by McDonagh, in the 1979 All Ireland final.

It's a long way from the gable end to here, where the vision and breath of Cusack still imbues the place," he said at one stage near the start of the speech which ranged from mellifluous Irish (in these unproductive times for football and hurling in the west, the language is one thing that Connacht does best and with more style than anywhere else in the GAA) to an emotional tour through his formative influences. happy as any well corked crowd, delegates accorded the speech a rapturous reception.

In addition to his comparative youth, the President elect can also boast the unusual distinction of being a currently registered player, captain of the Ballinderreen junior team.

The withdrawal of Noel Walsh left the election a two horse race and riding on that stark choice, McDonagh's vote leapt forward to record a two to one victory. For runner up Sean McCague, from Monaghan, the result was disappointing, as his supporters had been hoping for something nearer a 45-55 margin.

Nonetheless, if he dwells on the election McCague can feel consoled that he was in an unusually narrow field against a candidate regarded as favourite since he lost by a small margin to Jack Boothman three years ago.

Furthermore, McDonagh proved himself an exceptional candidate.

In defeat, McCague was gracious and said the association was fortunate to have a president of "Joe's calibre to lead it". The Monaghan man has now done enough to establish himself as the front runner for the next election in 1999.

Speaking afterwards,

McDonagh said that he had been surprised by the margin of his victory and reiterated his priorities as, primarily, pursuing the coaching initiatives with which he himself had been closely associated.

He mentioned again the seminal influence of the Coiste Iomana drive in the 1960s that triggered Galway's revival as a hurling power and made hopeful comparison with current coaching plans.

The election was an occasion of much relief to McDonagh's large travelling fanclub who had been forced to keep a lid on the celebrations until Saturday.

A special plane was flying in from Galway with a contingent of 70 from Ballinderreen, headed by Noel Lane, the distinguished former Galway hurler and a close friend of McDonagh's.

Tonight, they'll return to Ballinderreen to celebrate the achievement. By Saturday teatime, local radio journalists were already on the airwaves announcing that Joe was coming home at 10 o'clock.