It's not the highest profile GAA event of the week, but tomorrow evening in the Tipperary Institute in Thurles, the county's All Star goalkeeper Brendan Cummins will launch an initiative that could well be the most significant.

At a time when concern over the abuse of alcohol has risen steeply in step with the statistics depicting a society apparently in the grip of a drink-fuelled death wish, the GAA in Tipperary have decided to do something about it.

In tandem with the statistics, there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence of the effect of drink on football and hurling teams, with over-indulgence and its effects leading to loss of interest and loss of capacity among young players.

The background to what is being organised by the Tipperary County Board is outlined by its PRO, Ed Donnelly.

"Our chairman, Donal Shanahan, spoke at last year's convention about the practice of filling cups with alcohol and said that it wasn't good for this to happen, particularly at levels as young as minor.

"Afterwards there was a lot of positive feedback, and the board decided that there was no point talking about it, that we should see if we could do something."

Shanahan quickly became aware of the way his comments had resonated with among GAA members and the public at large.

"It got us thinking," he says. "A few of us got together and came up with the idea of approaching the 25 secondary schools in the county and about 10,000 students. With the help of health boards, GPs and those trained in the area of counselling, we could come up with a presentation that we could give a profile to by involving intercounty players.

"I'm not an expert in how to get this message through to young people, but I can see that there's a big problem. People involved with clubs and youth groups say that there's a big problem, the guards say it's big and the teachers' unions say that it's a huge problem."

Cummins will launch the initiative (at 8 p.m.), and also present and involved will be Dr Kevin Kelleher of the Mid Western Health Board, former team medic Dr Joe Hennessy and a representative from the local Garda.

"We're starting into the schools in September, because this isn't a great time of the year with exams going on," according to Donnelly. "The idea is to get prominent GAA people to talk to ordinary students about their future in sport and the disadvantage at the top level of abusing alcohol. The idea is timely given the imminence of a major response to the problem at national level."

Former Galway All-Ireland hurling captain Joe Connolly spoke evocatively on television last year of being familiar with "the dead eyes at training" when coaching young players. Connolly chairs the GAA's national Alcohol and Substance Abuse Task Force.

According to GAA president Seán Kelly, who appointed the task force, a report is due soon.

"I had hoped that it would report prior to Congress but that deadline couldn't be met. I was talking to Joe Connolly at Enda Colleran's funeral and he was saying that they would have the report completed within a month."

Kelly says the group's remit is wide-ranging and the latitude for suggestion uninhibited, including the freedom to consider the All-Ireland hurling sponsorship by Guinness, which has prompted reservations within the GAA as well as from the Minister for Health, Micheál Martin.

Shanahan is ambivalent on the need to terminate the sponsorship when it lapses after this year's championship, although most observers believe that it will not be renewed.

"I suppose I'm open minded on it. A lot of money has come through the sponsorship and has been well spent. I don't see sponsorship from drinks companies being the cause of the problems. They were there long before the sponsorship.

"For a long time people have highlighted the problem of abuse of alcohol, particularly by under-age groups, within our clubs and in society at large. I spoke about it because I felt that we as an association should do something about it."

The problem afflicts society in general and the GAA is no different, with examples ranging from ordinary club players to elite performers. "I know one very promising hurler who only for the bottle would have had a great career," says Shanahan. "It destroyed him. We all know family and friends who have been affected by alcohol."

Most prominent in the public eye was John Leahy, one of the most talented hurlers produced by Tipperary, an All-Ireland winner and an All Star. The subject of adulation from a young age, Leahy fell prey to alcoholism and is now in recovery and a full-time counsellor.

"We would obviously hope to involve John when we start into the schools," says Shanahan. "He can speak from experience as someone whose career was damaged by alcohol."

Given the scale of the problem there is scepticism in some quarters about the effectiveness of trying to educate young people to cope in a world where the pressure to drink is all-pervasive. Shanahan accepts the reservations but puts them firmly aside.

"We know that our plans aren't guaranteed, that we're skimming the edges in some respects, and what we can achieve I don't know. But somebody has to give a lead in this."