'He should have a long spoon who sups with the devil.' A lot of GAA people will call to mind that proverb of many centuries ago when they read about the peace agreement between the GAA and the GPA.

And there will be divided opinions as to who's who in the Gaelic version following the announcement, which was carefully scripted with the help of an eminent Senior Counsel Turlough O'Donnell.

There will also be a group of innocents abroad within the GAA who believe that the proverb applies to neither side, that the agreement is an outbreak of peace and harmony and doves now fly away from Croke Park every morning.

Yet, the vast majority of GAA officers have undisguised hatred of the GPA and everything it stands for. This has been the case since its inception 10 years ago.

They resent the elitism, as they see it, of the players' body, its tendency to be commercial about every item it deals with and the belief of GAA die-hards, that the real motivation of the GPA was to work towards professionalism in inter-county football and hurling. This notion was promoted by some top GAA officials including some presidents in the past decade.

But the GAA is well known for letting bygones be bygones going back to the abolition of the ban on members playing so-called 'foreign sports' in 1971 so let's assume the same applies to the recent GAA/GPA stand-off. Both sides confirmed on Saturday they were talking about inter-county players only as Christy Cooney said: "We are confident that we can forge a relationship with our inter-county players that will be for the betterment of the GAA as a whole". Many will be wondering what plans the GAA has for the other 95pc of players.

Gagged

One of the most telling comments on Saturday came from Paraic Duffy, who runs the GAA on a day-to-day basis, when he said that he wanted the GPA to be an independent voice and not gagged or frustrated just because they had now become an integral part of the GAA family.

Backing that up was Dessie Farrell, who stated: "We are now very much part and parcel of the GAA but it was very important that our independence was not compromised. That is one of the key issues for us and for the GAA it is important there is a distinct voice and that the players' views are represented independently."

This seems an admirable foundation for this new GPA/GAA deal but, bearing in mind the tight rigours of the Official Guide, one wonders how any single unit of the GAA can be described as 'independent'. Is the Ulster Council, or the Cork County Board or Larry McGann's Knocknavanna Gaels independent, for example?

As always in big GAA decisions nowadays, money plays a crucial role. Here the GPA has certainly landed on its feet, particularly in the present difficult economic climate, by getting €1,600,000 up to the end of 2010 from the GAA for players' welfare and to pay the running costs of the GPA. That's nearly 3pc of GAA gate receipts per year and presumably that will be index-linked for inflation, etc, in years to come.

In return, the GPA will stop looking for commercial sponsorship themselves, thereby leaving the GAA as the sole market-maker in that field. One assumes that the GPA will also abolish their annual equivalent of the GAA All Stars event, which included the prize of a new car for the winner of the Player of the Year award in each code and a cash prize of €2000 for each player named on the GPA Team of the Year.

There is no doubt that the proposals will be approved at the GAA Congress next April as the GAA's 'top people' are pushing it. Already, county chairmen and secretaries have been whipped into line at a meeting. When it needs to, the GAA can move with amazing alacrity.

The presence in the small GPA delegation on Saturday of Fintan Drury, one of the best-known sports business consultants in Ireland, was interesting. Will his undoubted expertise in this area transfer from the GPA to the GAA from now on?

There will be many genuine objectors to this latest move by the GAA, but the need for an agreement was largely forced upon both parties in recent months by external factors.

On the GAA's side, Duffy's efforts were important but the ever increasing unrest among county players regarding managerial and other matters also put the fear of God into the GAA.

From the GPA's viewpoint, they were facing problems with financing like every other sports body.

So, this sudden transformation from both the GAA and GPA is not all that surprising.

But there are many genuine GAA supporters who will be appalled and saddened by this development and their views should also be respected. The sole emphasis on county players at Saturday's announcement is what concerns most of these people.

Looking at the abuse of club players in terrible playing conditions all over Ireland in recent weeks, it is not hard to see they are the poor relations of the GAA. There is no fixtures-free period in November-December for club players and many will be playing away up to Christmas in games that should have been played between June and September but were sacrificed on the altar of the all-powerful county teams.

Maybe it is time the GAA started a new body called the CAP -- Club Association for Players.

POSTSCRIPT: This is the talking season and this evening, in the unusual setting of the National Library of Ireland, a series of sports talk-ins continues with the title 'Sport & Place' which discusses how sport strongly influenced regional and local identity in Ireland and the role of the local newspapers in reinforcing local identity in sport. Why, for instance, was cricket once more popular than hurling in Kilkenny and Tipperary? The event begins at 8.0, and I will be involved, along with well-known rugby writer Alan English. George Hook will be in the chair. It doesn't get any easier, does it ?

- Eugene McGee

Irish Independent