Recently-appointed Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletics Association Secretary Brian McAvoy "wasted no time in making his presence felt across the province and among the wider GAA, vowing to arrest last year's slide in attendances at inter-county Championships across the board," according to Declan Bogue of the BELFAST TELEGRAPH. McAvoy said, "The Leinster Championships are down, the Munster Championships are down. Ulster attendances are up, but they are only up because of two Ulster semifinals ending in a draw. Last year we had over 140,000, this year we had over 172,000, but the reason they are up is because we had two replays. ... I feel there are a number of factors. Although we have maintained our prices. We have had the same prices for seven, eight years, which is overdue a look at, I think. The other thing I think we have to look at seriously is the quality of our games." In the past, previous GAA President Liam O'Neill got into "some controversy" by acknowledging in a wider discussion that Gaelic football was "boring." But like O'Neill, McAvoy "sees enough good games to know that it has serious potential" (BELFAST TELEGRAPH, 1/31).
