When GAA president Seán Kelly was presented with one of the newly developed hurling helmets in Croke Park yesterday, he was quietly reminded to bring it to Congress on Saturday. If holy war does break out after the vote on Rule 42 at least he'd be well protected. Ian O'Riordan reports

For such a basic yet essential piece of hurling equipment, the helmet was for a long time seen as resistant to any major technological advancements.

Cork company Mycro Sportsgear saw it a little differently, and yesterday formally launched a lighter, stronger and more comfortable version which they believe will help ensure every player at every level will wear it by choice rather than by instruction.

The man behind the new helmet is Cork All-Ireland winning hurler Ronan Curran, who has been working full time with the company for the past four months, and in that time helped finalise the design in conjunction with some of the county's minor and senior hurlers.

"First if all it's a smaller, more comfortable fit," explained Curran. "There is also far better vision because the faceguard bars are thinner and lighter. And the players actually like the style of it. But the main priority was to combine comfort and vision with safety."

The new helmet is entirely Irish-made, and has undergone some rigorous testing that has shown it to resist the full, frontal impact of a sliotar travelling at 100km per hour. It meets the same safety standards as the ice hockey helmet, although Curran explained that it is geared entirely towards the native game.

"This was the shape the players wanted, so it's not really based on any other design. Around 40 players from different counties have taken to wearing them over the past few weeks."

In the meantime, Curran and his team are working on developing the "BioHelmet", which will be able to measure a range of the players' conditions such as pulse and level of dehydration, and transmit the information back to a laptop computer on the sidelines. Eventually, managers will be getting scientific evidence that a certain player has started to tire, and needs to be replaced.

But the most pressing concern was safety. As of last January the wearing of helmets has been mandatory for all teams from under-18 downwards.

"Once you get used to them when you're younger you won't take them off," added Curran. "The few times I've forgotten my helmet at training I just didn't feel the same without it. You'd be backing out of tackles and things like that. So there's no hope of changing around once you get used to it, and that's why it's so important for enforcing the rule on younger players."

Research has indicated that 51 per cent of injuries sustained by hurlers are to the head when no helmet is worn. That drops to 35 per cent when the helmet without a faceguard is worn, and to five per cent when both helmet and faceguard are worn.

"I think this new helmet will be a great comfort to many people," said the GAA president, "especially parents. It's so much safer and lighter that players of all ages will want to wear it. And that can only be a good thing."

Mycro was established in 1985 after Paddy Crowley, one of the directors and a former hurler himself, sustained a serious head injury that forced him to retire.

Despite the improved design it won't be any more expensive, with the €90 cost around the same as most existing models.

Clare defender Brian Lohan is among those expressing an interest in the new helmet, and if he does drop his trademark retro version then it surely can be deemed a success.