GAELIC GAMES/News: This evening's meeting between the Gaelic Players Association and the GAA comes at a crucial juncture in relations between the players and Croke Park.

It is less than three years since the GPA was founded and in that time the organisation has gained a high profile and in the process managed to put players' rights and what is effectively a demand for pay-for-play firmly on the agenda.

That sort of evolution in the world of the GAA is impressively rapid but even more so when you bear in mind that six months ago, the GPA looked down on its uppers.

The messy collapse of the much-trumpeted sponsorship deal with Marlborough Recruitment and a poor attendance at the 2001 a.g.m. was compounded by a PR disaster over the GPA Footballer of the Year award - initially announced as Padhraic Joyce but subsequently revised as Declan Meehan, who ultimately sent back the award.

Yet the fortunes of the unofficial players' union - Croke Park's Players Committee is the approved representative body - have improved considerably since the turn of the year.

There was, as might be expected, an element of luck in this recovery.

Charlie McCreevy's Finance Bill, which proposed tax breaks for sportspeople, created controversy within the GAA as its provisions didn't extend to the routine earnings of amateur players in their day jobs.

The ensuing focus on amateurism and professionalism within Gaelic games led to a debate in which there was public sympathy for elite players and the demands placed on them - as well as staunch opposition to any breach of the amateur code in other quarters.

The GPA had unveiled a proposal at their 2001 a.g.m. that players on senior intercounty panels be compensated to the tune of €127 in recognition of the impact on their career earnings of consistently high-level commitment to the games.

This has been firmly rejected both on the grounds that the GAA couldn't afford it and also - in strident terms - on grounds of principle by association president Seán McCague at this year's annual congress.

News that both the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach had met the GPA to discuss the issue - the former actually addressed the players' e.g.m. last month - also raised the profile of the union.

A minor protest at this month's Allianz Hurling League final between Cork and Kilkenny in Thurles saw a number of players wear their socks down and jerseys out for the pre-match parade.

The gesture was widely derided at the time but it has had very few precedents in terms of such a public show of defiance by players.

Significantly, a number of concessions have been recently made to players. At a meeting of senior county officers in Croke Park at the end of April it was decided to concede to players on certain matters.

All-Ireland final tickets (the majority of them free of charge) are to be made available to players, the size of panels is to be increased to 30, and minimum amounts of playing gear are to be provided for senior intercounty players.

Sizing up the likely agenda this evening is difficult because nothing official has been agreed, but it is likely that anything that either party wants to raise will be discussed.

Few believe that the €127 per-week payment is a viable runner in the short term, but two issues will be of particular interest. Firstly, there is the desire of the GPA to drive a new marketing campaign, involving sponsorship by sportswear companies other than O'Neill's, who have been supplying the GAA since time immemorial.

The GAA has not had tremendous success in its own officially-backed endorsement programme and is believed to be willing to have a look at the detail of what the GPA is proposing to see if it's feasible.

Secondly, the GPA wants to be recognised as the real representative body for players. The GAA will not dump Jarlath Burns's Players' Committee, which has done much useful work in spearheading improvements in the treatment of players, but some structural compromise should not be beyond the wit of the parties.

To make the meeting more meaningful the GPA have insisted that the GAA Director General Liam Mulvihill being present - an acknowledgement of the power of Croke Park's permanent government as it were.

So the opportunity will be there to make whatever is agreed stick. If anything is agreed.