It should be clear to everyone with even a passing interest in our national games that there are now two Gaelic Athletic Associations which co-exist uneasily alongside each other. The first, which for the sake of argument we will call Old GAA, is an insecure and introverted grouping whose permanent disposition is more suspicious and sceptical than a roomful of conspiracy theorists.

The contrast with what for the purposes of this exercise we shall call GAA mark II could hardly be more stark. GAA mark II is made up of progressive individuals who are generally receptive to change and innovation. Given recent events, particularly last week's inaugural meeting of the Gaelic Players' Association (GPA) in Belfast, the old and the new are on a collision course. The fall-out is unlikely to be pretty.

In Old GAA land things are done the way they always have been done. Players' requests for even the most paltry of expenses are met with disdain and even hostility. "Don't worry too much about them," the Old GAA argument goes, "there'll be another crop of whingers along in a few years."

In Old GAA land supporters are irritants on the same scale. Their goodwill towards the association is something to be exploited rather than nurtured. That is why, as was the case in more than one Ulster county this summer, Old GAA officials refused to recognise that they were short-changing fans by charging the sterling rate for tickets for matches in Clones when the tickets were priced in punts. The sums of money involved may not have been huge, but the whole sorry episode left a sour taste.

In Old GAA land the media are always the enemy, at least until some member of the Old GAA constituency can spot an opportunity for a little bit of self-aggrandisement.

Nobody was saying it out aloud, but dissatisfaction with the character traits of Old GAA was at least partly behind last week's launch of the GPA. Even the press launch last Wednesday night was an eye-opener for media people raised on a diet of grudging, monosyllabic GAA encounters. There was a genuine openness and eagerness on the part of the players involved to get their point of view across.

It is interesting that those to the fore of the new organisation are Ulster players. Relationships between them and the local media have traditionally been good and this latest move shows a keen awareness of the way in which that relationship can be positively exploited. GAA mark II regard the press and television as a potential aid rather than a hindrance.

Understandably the standard-bearers for GAA mark II have pitched their initial aims at a fairly low level. The much-publicised revamped insurance scheme would clearly address a longstanding grievance held by many inter-county players, but the nagging feeling is that it is only the opening gambit of a more ambitious plan.

Given the marketing expertise clearly involved in the GPA and the time and effort they have already put in, it would be naive to think that the grouping's activities will begin and end with a new form of insurance. A few of the speakers last Wednesday night did refer to dissatisfaction with the football and hurling championships as presently constituted and there were indications that this might be the next target for the new grouping.

Reform of the championship is another laudable objective, but, again, are we really supposed to believe that all the hard work that has clearly gone into the development of the GPA is about getting two or three more games during the summer for its members? Everything about the GPA - the manner in which it was launched, the business-like way in which it has conducted itself so far, the awareness of the legal implications of what it is undertaking - suggests it has bigger fish to fry.

"The much-publicised revamped insurance scheme would clearly address a long-standing grievance of many inter-county players, but the nagging feeling is that it is only the opening gambit of a more ambitious plan."

Its arrival appears to have been fuelled by a clear awareness of the way in which the wind is blowing as the GAA moves into a new century. There are many issues within the association that are coming to a head - the whole question of whether players should be paid and the extent to which they should be allowed to take advantage of commercial opportunities are just two - and those involved in the GPA are manoeuvring themselves into a position of strength from which they can influence the pace and nature of the change that now appears inevitable.

The corporate sponsorship of the All-Ireland football and hurling championships has moved the GAA into the commercial mainstream. How long will it be before the players whose images are being used freely in the promotion of the games start to ask what is in it for them? Inevitably there will be some individuals who are much more marketable than others and somewhere down the line it could be the function of the GPA to represent them in some shape or form.

A ND THIS is a very obvious source of conflict. The Gaelic footballers who have aligned themselves with the GPA would do well to heed the experiences of players' organisations in a number of other codes whenever they have come into conflict with their governing bodies.

From basketball through American football to soccer in England, players have invariably found that they can have all the meetings they want and publish all the ambitious policy documents they like, but as soon as they start to threaten the authority of the officials of their sport trouble and strife are never far away.

Last Wednesday night the air was heavy with worthy talk of a desire to work hand in hand with the GAA. But behind it all there must have been a realisation that the relationship between the two could change very quickly indeed.

The interest generated by the GPA during its short lifetime suggests it could be a grouping whose time has come. It may well have tapped into and have given focus to a movement for change within the GAA.

In 20 or 30 years' time, we may be able to look back at the events that unfolded in a small function room in a Belfast hotel and recognise them as a defining moment in the history of the GAA. Time will tell the tale.