Sports Minister Martin Cullen is confident that the players grant scheme can be saved, despite his failure to reach agreement with the GPA on Monday night. The two parties are set to hold further talks with Cullen insisting that any grants programme agreed upon would have to "sustainable". He said: "I made a couple of points strongly and they've gone away to reflect on it. "But I am keen to acknowledge the huge contribution that the GAA players make to our country. I'd like to see a resolution and hopefully over the next few weeks we'll be able to achieve that goal. "I don't want to put anything in the public domain that might make it difficult for one side or the other. I think we've now thrashed out all the relevant issues. "Yes, there are different perspectives involved and that's totally understandable. My hope is that we can play our part in the fundamental support of the players." Tweet

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