There are times when a tortured argument can be put into clear focus by a passing reference totally aside from the debate itself. Consider the following: ". . . we were stopped at another UDR checkpoint. As soon as I was asked for my address and answered `Cushendall' you could feel a chill in the air. When they opened the boot and found a pile of hurls it became worse again. You could sense the change in the atmosphere. `What are you keeping these ould bits of wood for in your car?' he asked. Before I could answer he had thrown the sticks over a ditch".

It is but a brief paragraph in the reminiscences of Terence `Sambo' McNaughton, All Star hurler and gentleman from Antrim's glens, but it speaks volumes on the tortured subject of Rule 21 of the GAA and it must be listened to very carefully and with compassion if the emotions which the rule excites are not to swamp us all.

Rule 21 of the GAA forbids membership of the GAA to members of the RUC and British forces. The rule was introduced many years ago when it served a particular purpose throughout the country as a whole. The GAA was seen at the time as a quasi-political organisation and a front for subversion of the RIC and British forces of the day. Some members of those bodies attempted to infiltrate the GAA with their own form of subversion in mind and the rule came into being to protect the GAA from infiltration. Back in Civil War times which had succeeded the War of Independence there was even a suggestion that the Army of the new Free State and the Garda be included in the rule. This goes to show that the thinking behind the introduction of the rule has changed dramatically and that it no longer has any basis for existence.

These are matters of historical fact and they put the rule as it stands into a historical context. The fact is, however, that now the rule is an anachronism. The question is not whether the rule serves any purpose or not; the question is how to get rid of it?

Unfortunately, the rule is being used by factions on both sides of the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland. It has become something of a shuttlecock as the two sides bat it back and forth thereby generating more heat than light.

And yet it is a real thorn in the side of the GAA which has now, mainly through the courage of its president Joe McDonagh, decided to face the issue head on. Caught in the middle of the debate are the Terence McNaughtons of this world who play the games and many of whom are readily identifiable from their photographs in the newspapers and action shots on television. The young UDR man who stopped Terence McNaughton probably recognised the unmistakable cut of Sambo's jib well before he discovered the hurleys in the boot of the car. In this context McNaughton's views on Rule 21 are interesting. This is what he says: "There's no doubt Rule 21 is used by some to pillory the association. The simple fact is, were Rule 21 to be scrapped tomorrow, I don't see policemen queuing up to join football and hurling teams.

"A lot more would have to change before I'd see that happening. That's all I have to say, and maybe that's too much."

Again he puts in a very stark and expressive way the mind-set which exists in the six counties of Ulster and how it is at variance with the way in which most people in the rest of Ireland view matters. Many people would share McNaughton's view that the rule is a nuisance and without any positive aspect. Like many things in the six counties, it is a label, in the same way as an Orange sash is a label or a Lambeg drum, and people are reluctant to shed these badges of identity for fear of being seen to be weak.

In this respect Rule 21 fits snugly beside Articles Two and Three of the Constitution which are aspirational and have never had any positive effect on what is seen as `the national question' at least not as far as most of us are concerned.

If one were to take a pedantic approach to this matter, one could refer to the rule book which has a total of 159 rules. Rule 2 could represent the solution of the present problem because, if Rule 21 were to be removed, the rules would still say: "Rule Two - Basic Aim: The Association is a National organisation which has, as its basic aim, the strengthening of the National Identity in a 32county Ireland through the preservation and promotion of Gaelic games and pastimes".

It could be argued therefore that, even if there were no Rule 21, any applicant for membership who could not accept the aims set out in Rule 2 could not be a member. Which, in turn, means that the GAA can, in effect, drop Rule 21 without weakening in any shape or form its "basic aim".

Sambo - All Or Nothing, by Terence Mcnaughton (Wolfhound Press, £6.99).