Eamonn Cregan (Limerick hurling manager)

"I was disappointed with the decision but to be honest I didn't expect anything else. But the fact that it came down to only two votes and they still didn't do a recount was the big negative for me. It is possible that they got it wrong.

"The other point to make is that the majority of people did want Croke Park opened up. It may not have been a two-thirds majority but it was a majority. So I still feel that it is only a matter of time before the decision is made, but only on a confined basis. I can see rugby internationals and interprovincials played there in the future.

"It is difficult to know whether or not the £60 million had anything to do with it. Some people did fear that clubs around the country would have suffered because of the cost of Croke Park, but the likes of Tipperary were against it because they might have feared rugby coming into Thurles. Either way I still think the GAA was entitled to the money.

"Yet this is the 21st century and the GAA needs to move into the 21st century. They still won't lose any control over the game. What are we afraid of?"

John O'Mahony (Galway football manager)

"It is not easy to defend the decision right now. I certainly had no problem with the idea of handing over the decision to Central Council, who are another conservative body themselves anyway.

"I also think that the feeling among the ordinary GAA punter was overwhelmingly in favour of capitalising on Croke Park. The ordinary clubs didn't want to swallow up the costs of Croke Park.

"I think the announcement of a further £60 million did surprise a lot of people but just how much it affected the vote I wouldn't be sure. There were suggestions that some people were more influential than others but congress is a bit of an animal in itself. Still, I think it's inevitable that it will be passed next year. The GAA are slow to change but they do change.

"The other issue was the method of voting and I think that will have to be looked at as well. We are in an age now where everything must be transparent but again I think that will soon be taken on board. "One of the big fears was that clubs up and down the country wouldn't hold onto their grounds, and that might have been reflected in the final vote. There has to be a clear distinction that it is just Croke Park that is being opened up. But I did have a feeling it would be passed and that makes it disappointing."

Jarlath Burns (chairman GAA's Players Committee)

"It was good debate and I think it was a balanced debate and in the end you had over 60 per cent of people voting for change. I still feel that delegates had nothing to fear in giving the option to Central Council. They should have realised that, and so it isn't a great vote of confidence in Central Council either.

"I've spoken to a lot of players on this and they all have their own opinion. They are mixed and that's personal for them, so it wouldn't be fair for me to comment on the decision on behalf of all the players. But I was surprised at how close the vote was.

"The news of £60 million didn't come as any great surprise to me. It had been suggested during the week and if the Government is going to announce any new funding then it will nearly always be at Congress. There was no way as well that the Government was going to give the FAI this extra money and not give the GAA something.

"I'm sure the debate will come up again but by then it may be too late. In fact this debate is maybe 10 years too late. This time next year the National Stadium will be a lot closer and if they are going ahead with an 80,000-seat stadium then there will be no reason to play rugby at Croke Park

"As bad as the decision was, there was one practical point that I was concerned with. Croke Park hosts 48 inter-county games every year as well as about 27 primary school games. That's a lot of wear and tear on the field and by the end of the season this year the surface was not good. It could have been a lot worse if there were more games to be played there."

Seamus Moynihan (Kerry footballer)

"I don't think that this decision represents the point of view of the average GAA person. Most of them were in favour of opening Croke Park and so it was disappointing that it came so close to going through.

"The announcement of £60 million was interesting and I think what they should have done was defer the vote for another 12 months. Some people felt that Croke Park would have been in financial difficulty if they didn't open the gates but it's hard to know how that affected the vote.

"Personally I think it would have been great to see the likes of Mick Galwey and Keith Wood and Roy Keane playing in Croke Park. It is definitely a bad PR day for the GAA but I don't know what the kickback of that will be. It is easy to be wise in hindsight but what effect it will have on general I don't know.

"But all this politics involved in the stadium issue at the moment is very interesting. It's hard to know where it's going but the players seem to be only second rating at the moment."

Joe Rabbitte (Galway hurler)

"This was a decision for the GAA hierarchy and I wouldn't have strong feelings on the issue. I don't think it would have done any harm but I have no reason to be critical of what the GAA have done. That's for the politicians to do. From a player's point of view most of us are just interested in playing the game."

Interviews: Ian O'Riordan