Last week's launch of the GAA training initiative for club officers featured a telling contribution from Sean McCague, the chairman of the Policy and Planning committee, who felt it necessary to spend some time detailing just what the committee did.The workgroup which produced the report operated under the umbrella of Policy and Planning but the committee itself remains largely unknown to the general public. Its remit is, however, enormous and ranges from harnessing the latest technology for administrative purposes to assisting in the application for a municipal pitch for Gaelic games in Paris."A lot of people even within the GAA are confused about what we do," says Debbie Massey, secretary to the Policy and Planning committee. "We deal with development in all areas bar the games which are the responsibility of Pat Daly and the Games Development Committee."Essentially the committee facilitates communication between various levels of the association but particularly between the decision-making committees at national level and the clubs which have to implement them."We're trying to bring people up to speed on various matters, unclog the bottlenecks where information is being held up and also examine whether our administrative structures are still appropriate in this day and age."Among the projects being currently undertaken is an advisory role with the Dublin county board which faces a number of challenges in dealing with its huge catchment area. "We've had preliminary talks but they were before the county convention so we didn't go into any detail until the new chairman was elected."Other advisory functions include "keeping an eye on demographic trends for rural clubs". This entails helping clubs cope with the effects of depopulation. "We put on courses and advise on amalgamation - which can be difficult because clubs are often reluctant to do it due to fears of lost identity."There have been positive results, according to Massey: "Tommy Moran (Leitrim county secretary) said there were a lot of clubs in trouble in the county. Our pilot scheme (the Leadership and Administration programme) in Connacht reached all 38 clubs in Leitrim and Tommy said that he could see a great change in the efficiency of their dealings with the county board. One of the basic ideas is to involve greater numbers in the community - clubs are often run by only a handful of people - even non-GAA people."An obvious area of communication is the internet and the development of a website for the GAA. Although this is an area for Nicky Brennan's Technology committee, its application is most keenly felt in Policy Planning. Debbie Massey maintains a database on the almost 2,000 clubs in the country and believes that the internet is an obvious means of communication to those clubs."I'm interested in the area and have done what I can given the budget but in about six months, the whole area will be transformed. Croke Park will be on-line and the provincial councils will follow. Leinster are likely to be first because Nicky Brennan has been working on a parallel but separate project there."Croke Park's website had been set up and maintained on a voluntary basis but is now in abeyance. "That's very close to being sorted out," says Massey. "Quotes have been taken and Croke Park should be able to move on that soon. At the moment it's not up and running although Guinness have a hurling championship page on their site."International communication with the GAA's global family has also been a priority for Policy and Planning. Many of the overseas units are experiencing difficulties due to the decline of immigration from Ireland and the changing nature of those who do emigrate.No longer can the GAA in North America and Britain depend on an influx of Irish people who automatically gravitate towards the association on arrival in other countries. One consequence of this is that recruitment now targets children who often aren't first or even second-generation Irish.The GAA in the US and Britain is active in the schools and colleges. As a support for these activities and at the request of the overseas units, Policy and Planning undertook to organise a biennial senior football tournament for them, to be held in Dublin. The minor equivalent is now in its sixth year and has, says Massey, "worked very well".Even in countries where there has been no great tradition of mass Irish immigration, clubs are springing up. "In Paris, Brussels and the Hague, there is great interest and the clubs have a different profile to the traditional immigrants." Those involved tend to be young professionals employed by multinationals and while they are often involved with the local Irish associations, there is also local interest."Next June, the Irish club in Paris is going to give a big display for invited guests including the Mayor of Paris and the hope is that they will be able to secure the use of a municipal playing pitch."The process isn't one-way either and Debbie Massey believes that the experience at last year's North American finals in San Fransisco held out a message for back home."In North America, ladies' football is integrated with men's and all the finals were staged together. Personally what I experienced there was far more natural. There were whole families there, to see their father or mother or partner playing and a far greater involvement by women in the association at all levels."