Garda intervention in outbreaks of sporting violence is not governed by any specific policy. In the aftermath of Garda Tim Hickey's action in taking the names of players and advising the abandonment of the match during a minor hurling fixture in Kilmallock, Co Limerick at the weekend, both the Garda Siochana and the GAA have confirmed that the interaction between the two has not been previously discussed.

A garda has a common law right to intervene if he sees an offence taking place. There are also powers under the Public Order Act, but it is questionable whether a hurling field would count as a public place for the purposes of this act. He or she is also perfectly entitled to advise the calling-off of a match.

Taken with last week's events in the Galway District Court where a club footballer was jailed for nine months after being found guilty of assault, this latest incident is yet another reminder that the authorities are no longer content to turn a blind eye to violence on the playing field.

"There isn't really any policy on the matter," said GAA PRO Danny Lynch speaking about the incident in Limerick. "It was an unprecedented situation. Usually the referee is the only person with the power to call off a game."

"The general rule," according to a spokesperson in the Garda press office, "is that you use your discretion and common sense. If there's a big melee, you've a duty to go in and sort it out. I wouldn't imagine there're any plans to introduce regulations covering Garda intervention."

How would this affect a big-match situation like the 1996 All-Ireland replay which featured a lengthy brawl in the opening minutes?

"In ordinary situations, it wouldn't occur," said the spokesperson. "Most matches have some little bit of a disturbance, but the referee usually has it under control. But when 20 or 30 people are involved and they're killing each other, that's different."

The incidents in Kilmallock involved widespread disorder and referee Willie O'Mahony said afterwards that he had been glad of Garda Hickey's intervention.

No-one seemed sure how frequently this type of situation has arisen. "I couldn't say, but I wouldn't say it's a regular occurrence," was the official Garda response.

The GAA will not be making any immediate statement on the matter. "We didn't know anything about it until the report appeared in the media," says Lynch. "It was a localised occurrence and the GAA has no comment to make on what was a bizarre and unusual situation but the matter is being kept under consideration," said Lynch.

Meanwhile, plans by the Aran Islanders to develop a GAA pitch on the largest of the three Aran islands, Inishmore, received a boost yesterday when two representatives of the GAA in New York visited the island and pledged to raise $100,000 for the project.

The proposed pitch - the first ever full-size pitch on Aran - will cost in the region of £250,000 and has been in the pipeline for five years. Islanders have already raised £20,000, but with a population of some 1,000 people, the amount of local fund-raising that can be done is limited, explained local GAA official Arthur O'Flaherty.

President of the New York GAA Monty Moloney and PRO Terry Connaughton flew into Aran yesterday with Minister of State Frank Fahey, TD for Galway West, to examine the proposed site which will serve the three islands.

Although Inishmore's GAA club was established in 1976, it has never hosted a home game because it has never had its own pitch. Some games have been played on a pitch in neighbouring Inisheer, but this isn't a full-size venue and doesn't meet requirements said O'Flaherty.

That means that for almost all games, the island teams must travel to the mainland and so rather than taking a couple of hours, a full day is involved.

It's difficult to maintain momentum when such demands are placed on players, said O'Flaherty, and in recent years declining numbers of players have led the three Aran islands, Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer, to form one club, Cumann Peile Oileain Arainn.

The proposed pitch will serve all three islands and will offer young people facilities which they currently lack, said O'Flaherty.