FROM THE ARCHIVES:Monday, 12th April 1971: Paddy Downeyreports on the day the 86th GAA congress voted to remove Rule 27, thus removing the controversial Ban

LET THERE be no sounding of trumpets as a rule disappears; nor should there be talk of deceit, said Pat Fanning, in his presidential address to the 86th Congress of the GAA in the Whitia Hall, of Queen's University, Belfast, yesterday morning. And there was none. Rule 27, the celebrated Ban, was deleted after 66 years in its present form in the Official Guide. And it went without death rattles, without cheers or tears and, most important of all, without acrimony.

To many people who had expected fireworks, an eruption of the raging controversy which had surrounded the subject over the past 10 years, this may have seemed anti-climactic. To those who know and appreciate the trust that the GAA has always placed in the concept of democracy it was a triumph - a triumph for dignity, commonsense, discipline and trust in the future.

The historic moment arrived at 11.45 am. Pat Fanning asked one of the twenty-seven counties whose names were appended to the motion to move it formally. Con Short of Armagh walked to the rostrum and, in a few seconds, had put the proposal. He was seconded quietly, almost inaudibly, by Tom Woulfe, of Dublin, one of the foremost antagonists of the rule over the past decade.

If a pin had dropped in the tense silence it would have sounded like the clang of brass as the president rose and said: "I declare Rule 27 deleted". There was a murmur of voices from the floor of the great hall. And there was small applause. Nothing more. There was no bang, and neither was there a sound of a whimper.

But there was, somewhere, indefinably an atmosphere of obsequies and the barest hint of pathetic undertones as, with the sun shining through the tall windows the invisible chains snapped, fell away into history and this great association burgeoned into a new era.

The great controversy was over, and even those, including Pat Fanning, who had fought so hard and so sincerely over all the years to retain the rule, must have felt, in some way, glad that it was at an end and that there were now new fields to occupy their energies and their immutable loyalties.

Jack Rooney, of Antrim (who, with Sligo, were the only two counties whose conventions voted to retain the rule), said that he would like to have it recorded that his county convention wished to have Rule 27 retained. "The decision of the convention was the expression of the young men of the country. I congratulate you" he said to Mr Fanning, "on your handling of a delicate matter." He pledged to the president and the GAA Antrim's unswerving loyalty.

Before the momentous decision was taken, the president had spoken for nearly 10 minutes, during which he appealed to the 300-odd delegates to deal with the matter without tension or acrimony.

The fact that the occasion went by without any trace of the latter and with precious little of the former, was a splendid triumph for the president, who handled the proceedings with dignity, firmness and considerable diplomatic skill. Pat Fanning, already established as one of the great presidents of the association, won new stature on this day. He outlined the chain of events which led up to the final move to delete the rule and stated that had he known of this development in advance he would have found it very difficult to accept the presidency 12 months ago.

"Right at the beginning, I declared that I would be prepared to accept the decision of the counties in this matter and I will try to spell out today what I meant and what I think the association needs in the future.

"Now, accepting, as I hope you will, the sincerity of my attitude, which is activated only by my seeking to ensure what is best for the association, I will ask Congress to accept my proposition that one of the sponsoring counties formally move the deletion of Rules 27, and then be permitted to declare it deleted. That done, it would be my intention to place before you a resolution which would explain to you what I have in mind in this regard. It would, I think, satisfy you as a means of securing the future of the association in the way all of you wish."

The president then read his resolution which, he said, would be considered by a special committee (to be set up this week) as the basis of a charter for the GAA of the future. Then, he added, a special congress would be called, within six weeks, for the purpose of ratifying that charter.

After the Ban had been deleted, Lar Brady of Laois, who had been a delegate to Congress for almost forty years, intervened to say that he protested strongly at the method used in putting the motion through. It was, he said, a sleight-of-hand effort to revoke Rule 27.

The president replied that he appreciated Mr Brady's feelings, but was hurt by the allegation that he had not conducted the business in a proper manner.

The president then referred to the necessity for unity in the ranks of the association under the changed situation in order that the national aspects of the GAA be preserved. It was imperative, he declared, to restate and reaffirm the association's national attitudes and policies.

"We must now, more than ever, be seen to be more than a sporting organisation. We have always been that and gloried in it. A vacuum has been created by the deletion of the rule, and there is now a need to clear up the loose ends and make a restatement of the obvious."

He went on to say that the GAA was organised to foster Gaelic games, and these only; that the clubs should organise only Gaelic games and should not engage in the promotion or play of any field games not mentioned in the Official Guide; that the right of individual members to attend or play the formerly-excluded games did not reduce the obligation to give first allegiance to the GAA. The association's grounds were acquired and developed for the promotion of the national games and should be used for those games only.

He then declared as a matter of personal honour, that in no circumstances would the special committee, once established, attempt to reintroduce Rule 27 or in any way limit the right of members to attend or play the games of rugby, soccer, cricket and hockey.

At the suggestion of the president, the delegates agreed unanimously to adopt two relevant motions. The first of these, sponsored by Fermanagh, advocated a clearly defined membership of the GAA, registering of clubs, protection for the goods and chattels of the organisation, and strict adherence to amateur status.

The other, sponsored by Derry, proposed a reassertion of loyalty to the national games, language, dances and music of the country; support for Irish industry, dedication to the ideal of full nationhood, the utilisation of membership and resources, only for GAA purposes and a strict definition of membership of the association.

All other motions relating to Rule 27 were withdrawn by their sponsors.

The deletion of Rule 29 (prohibition on the promotion of non-Irish dancing) followed in a similar manner to that of the bigger issue. The motion was proposed again by Con Short, and seconded by Con Clarke of Dublin. Al McMurray, of Antrim, opposed the motion but, in the circumstances, it was only a symbolic gesture.

In declaring the rule deleted, the president assured the Antrim delegate that the question of Irish dances and music would be a part of the proposed new charter.

The motion to delete Rule 26 (which bars British Service men and RUC from membership of the GAA) was a damp squib. Jack Rooney asked that it be not moved, and said that he had got the agreement of the 12 counties who had tabled it.

The president pointed out that this would be unprecedented procedure, but he would put MrRooney's suggestion to the delegates.

Louis McManus, a delegate from Fermanagh, one of the sponsoring counties, objected, saying that the motion should be put, and Fr Morahan, of Mayo, said that it was important to ensure that a wrong meaning could not be read into this action.

When Jack Rooney's request was granted and the motion left unmoved, someone said to the president: "I hope that this procedure will not embarrass you in the future."

Pat Fanning retorted: "No, I have learned to live with precedents."