Players are set to seek compensation for income lost through the growing demands of inter-county involvement.

The Gaelic Players' Association meet this weekend in Portlaoise for the organisation's second a.g.m. and foremost on the agenda will be the actuarial report on the cost of playing hurling and football at county level.

GPA chairman Des Farrell said that he and his fellow officers would "take direction" from the membership after a discussion of the report's findings.

"Everything will be run democratically," he said, "and it will be up to the members. We will probably suggest that a separate expenses claim be allowed - aside from that paid for travel or mileage.

"The actuaries' conclusion suggests that players are at a serious financial loss because of their involvement, directly and extrapolated across their career due to lost opportunities jobs-wise."

Assuming the membership accept this direction the next move will be to make the submission to the GAA.

"Our liaison over the past year has been with the Players' Committee (the official GAA representative body chaired by Jarlath Burns), but we will be looking for further contact and meaningful discussions. It depends on how big a stance players are prepared to take."

The attitude of members to the whole idea of a players' association will become critical in the months ahead according to Farrell. He says that he is unsure what proportion of the membership of 760 will be in attendance.

"Players can be apathetic and hard to motivate," he says. "It's time for players to ask not what the GPA can do for them but what they can do for themselves. The organisation is at a critical stage over the next two or three months depending on the response of this a.g.m..

"If the GPA fails, players will only have themselves to blame when the GAA has them over a barrel. It's up to everyone to make this weekend as meaningful as possible."

There has been a change in emphasis on the part of the GPA over the past year. Gone are the high-profile stunts that were such a feature of its initial year, although Farrell is unsure of the effectiveness of the altered approach and the ensuing contact with the Players' Committee.

"It's difficult to fight City Hall on a continuous basis. After last year we moved away from the mud-slinging and confrontation.

"If that's progress well and good, but there hasn't been much concrete achieved. Admittedly it's been very much touchy-feely stuff as we were sussing each other out and it was difficult to get down to brass tacks.

"But we told them that this report was in the pipeline and that we would be looking for compensation for the time and effort involved and that we would present the findings to them. So the idea won't be totally alien to them."

Another item of business involves the recruitment of a full-time administrator. The amount of work involved is a major imposition on voluntary workers who are already trying to juggle inter-county commitments and career.

"We think it's important," says Farrell, "but it's such a significant outlay that we couldn't take the decision as an executive. We're going to put it to the members to see if it's feasible and find out if that's what they want."

Last year's a.g.m. was in Killarney and the day after Farrell had to make a dash back for one of Na Fianna's club championship matches. This weekend he faces the same dual commitment, but the imposition will be considerably eased.

The day after the a.g.m. he has only to make his way down the road, as Na Fianna face Portarlington in the Leinster quarter-finals.

He also dismissed speculation that a knee injury picked up playing in the US had proved sufficiently serious to rule him out of action this weekend.

Having lost their Leinster crown to O'Hanrahan's in last year's provincial final, the Dublin champions are aware of the pitfalls of the competition.

"We feel we were caught on the hop a bit last year," says Farrell, "and we hope to put the record straight this time around."