GAA Congress set to debate Rule 42

There was strong evidence last night that Rule 42 will be debated at the GAA's Congress next April.

Though a cloud of secrecy still surrounds the outcome of yesterday's meeting of the Motions Committee, comments from GAA president Seán Kelly suggested that at least one motion calling for Croke Park to be opened to other sports has been ruled in order and will finally go to the county delegates at Congress for a full debate.

Officially, however, the 10 counties which last week resubmitted their motions for final consideration will learn sometime today whether they've been successful in their efforts to get Rule 42 on to the Congress agenda. None of the relevant county secretaries had received any word either way when contacted last night, and instead are awaiting the formal notification from Croke Park, which is due to arrive this morning by email.

The temperament and body language of the GAA president following yesterday's lengthy meeting of the 12-man Motions Committee strongly suggested the positive outcome he was seeking.

"I can't make any formal comment," he said. "In fairness, we met as a committee, we've gone through all the motions, and we decided to say nothing until the counties involved were informed. That's the proper way to do business. I'm not going to say anything in the meantime.

"There will be a statement issued as soon as the counties are notified. But I can't give you any indication of how it went. No hints, no nods, no winks. Just take it as it comes now."

Kelly made his comments at another appointment in Dublin last night, shortly after the conclusion of the Motions Committee meeting which lasted most of yesterday afternoon. While not giving much away in his answers, he was clearly putting a positive face on the outcome of the proceedings.

"Well I'm always smiling," he added. "In life you must take all your ups and downs with a smile. "But it was a very long meeting. There were a lot of motions going through and I suppose in all it lasted about four hours.

"There were lots of motions, lots of very good motions and very interesting motions and they were all gone through thoroughly in accordance with the rules. Everything was done according to the rules."

It was then suggested to Kelly that he has been advocating the opening of Croke Park for rugby and soccer for some time, and by turning down the motions to amend Rule 42 at this stage the Motions Committee would in a way be undermining his position as president.

"I have never advocated it," he pointed out. "I said that I was in favour of it when I was asked and that is about the size of it."

The 10 motions resubmitted last Wednesday - Wicklow missed the deadline - varied in that some called for a permanent lift on the banning of other sports while others, such as Roscommon, called for a temporary lift, and more specifically for Croke Park to be opened for the IRFU and the FAI for the period when Lansdowne Road is closed.

Tommy Kenoy, who helped frame the Roscommon motion, was particularly confident last night that the debate was inevitable. "Right now, confidence is high that we will finally be successful," he said.

"With the depth of experience with the GAA people we were dealing with I would be confident we got it right, and very hopeful it got through."

It emerged yesterday that Roscommon's lengthy motion was meticulously drafted to meet the approval of the Motions Committee. They got the assistance of Niall Dolan of the Ramor United club in Cavan, a solicitor by profession, and they worked together with other experienced officials from a number of the other counties in putting the revamped motion together.

"We also addressed what Croke Park asked us, to amend five additional rules 3, 4, 5 and 43 and 44. We focused our attention on amending those rules as requested. So my gut feeling is that one motion will certainly make it in at the very least."

The 12 current members of the Motions Committee are president Seán Kelly, director general Liam Mulvihill, and former presidents Seán McCague, Joe McDonagh, Jack Boothman, Peter Quinn, Dr Mick Loftus, Paddy Buggy, Paddy McFlynn, Con Murphy, Pat Fanning, Seamus Ó Riain.