Gaelic Games News round-upJames O'Connor has ruled himself out of any involvement with the vacant Clare senior management position.

A leading light in the county's resurgence in the 1990s and Hurler of the Year in 1997, O'Connor has been adding coaching experience to his CV through work with his school, St Flannan's, and the Clare minors and was one of the personalities speculated on as a possible member of the management team to succeed Anthony Daly.

"No," he said yesterday. "I've three kids at the moment and one just started school. Life is pretty hectic and I know I couldn't give the time commitment. Down the line, certainly it's something I'd like to consider but I'd also have to cut my teeth further at minor and under-21 level.

"I was asked to get involved with the minors because of the overlap in Clare between the county and Flannan's and I agreed but in the end it was impossible to do both. I was one night with the school, the next with the county and it ended up taking up more time than when I was playing with Clare."

Daly completed his three-year stint with last month's All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kilkenny. He had more or less come straight from playing after two years of retirement but O'Connor points out that his former captain had obvious credentials.

"He always had considerable charisma. I've said it before that Daly could relate to everyone from the chartered accountant to the blocklayer and from driven individuals like Brian Lohan to the fellas that hated training."

The Clare County Board will meet on Tuesday night to decide on a mechanism for the appointment of a senior hurling manager. The meeting has been deferred for a week because of difficulties in convening on the set date.

It is likely that a committee, consisting of the county chairman and secretary, will be approved to look into likely candidates and come up with a recommendation to be presented to the October meeting, scheduled for Tuesday the 10th.

Joint football managers Michael Brennan and Donie Buckley are halfway through a two-year appointment and will continue into next season.

Another matter before the October meeting of the Clare County Board will be the report of the committee asked to evaluate the various proposals for the purchase of Cusack Park by property developers.

"At the end of the day the decision will be taken by the clubs in Clare," according to county PRO Des Crowe. "The committee may come forward with a recommendation but it will be up to delegates."

The offer for Cusack Park is one of an increasing number being made around the country, as developers move on some of the prime locations currently occupied by GAA units. It is envisaged that the Clare county ground would be re-located outside of Ennis with the developers building a new stadium as well as paying over a substantial sum.

Crowe also commented on the likely situation governing tomorrow's All-Ireland minor football final replay, fixed for Cusack Park. Kerry and Roscommon played out a thrilling draw in Croke Park last weekend and are expected to attract a large crowd to Ennis.

"I've had a number of calls about the weather," he said, "but I'd have to say we're not that concerned.

"At the moment the weather is unbelievably bad but Saturday is promised very good and we foresee no problems."

Clare County Board had originally intended to stage two of the county's hurling quarter-finals on the same bill but that has been revised to just the Wolfe Tones-Sixmilebridge match, which will start at 5.30.

"We're expecting a crowd in the region of between 10,000 and 15,000," said Crowe. "I was talking to Roscommon and mentioned that the match might be on television and the reaction was that it would make no difference to the expected 10,000 from Roscommon.

"I was also talking to John Kennedy (Kerry manager) and he said there was great interest in the county and that clubs had been organising buses. He reckoned about 2,500 would travel. I'd add a few thousand to that from Clare because of the Kennedy factor."

Kennedy was in charge of the Clare senior footballers for three years earlier this decade and, according to Crowe, "remains very popular in Clare".

Still in the county, the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will next Monday launch the official website of the new Michael Cusack Centre, which is being developed at Carron, Co Clare, in the birthplace of the founder of the GAA.

The new centre is a project to honour the centenary of Cusack's death next November and the site is called www.MichaelCusack.