But it's appropriate also, I would suggest, at this landmark moment to stock-take. And while the celebratory aspect will sit easy, a more searching examination of well-being might be less comfortable.

To begin with then it's only fair to acknowledge the birthday boy on his coming of age and recognise what has been achieved since that meeting in Hayes's in 1884. The Association may have morphed and mutated over the years but the one constant has been its unrivalled contribution to life on this island. The IRFU and FAI may pre-date the GAA but neither can match its enduring influence on communal life.

Undoubtedly the embracing of the parish rule was central to all this. It was a masterstroke. The result is that today the influence of the Association is felt in every nook and cranny of the land. This parish focus generated a loyalty to place, something that other sports lack. It probably explains why you don't have large-scale transferring of players to the larger clubs. Nicky English would have been welcome in any club in the county or beyond, yet he chose to remain loyal to the junior ranks of Lattin(Cullen. Today Shane McGrath would find a welcome anywhere, yet Ballinahinch remains his first and enduring love. In the ranks of the GAA journeymen players have a poor history, often finding that they remain forever outsiders in their adopted club.

On a related issue I'd suggest that the lack of a parish rule is crippling camogie at local level. The large clubs act as magnates for the better players so the smaller units find it impossible to build and expand. It is inhibiting and ultimately damaging to the future prospects of the game. And while on the topic of camogie isn't it time that organisation upgraded its playing rules. The sight of the dropped hurley and the hand-passed goal is like something from a Seventies hurling game.

But back to the GAA and its contribution to society. Clearly its influence extends way beyond the games. It has been a great bonding agent within parishes, drawing communities together and giving them a shared purpose. The incredible infrastructure that the Association now possesses is testimony to this community spirit that the GAA generates.

And so without fear of being contradicted we can salute the massive contribution of the GAA to Irish life. It's a contribution that is ongoing and evolving and it's that evolution that I find most exciting about the organisation. Isn't it instructive to compare the GAA now with the Association that celebrated its centenary in 1984?

Twenty-five years ago the GAA was quite a different animal to its modern incarnation. It was then quite an inward-looking organisation, still obsessing about the past and defensive in outlook. In that year RTE commissioned a documentary on the Association, which was scripted by Con Houlihan.