Fascinating piece focused on the public position of the GAA viz a viz the potential dropping of Rule 42 (which forbids the use of GAA premises for anything other than GAA sports). The organisation’s Chair Sean Kelly says that they will approach the Republic’s Government for a further grant of up to 50 million towards the redevelopment of Croke Park, if the ban on is lifted at Congress next April.
Though he’s likely to face some resistence in getting the necessary changes, Kelly argues that the context for the discussion at the next GAA’s Congress has iself changed:
“For a start we received a 40 million grant recently, so the argument that we shouldn’t discuss opening Croke Park until the Government honoured a commitment entered into back in 2001 is no longer valid. Secondly, we have put in place a number of safeguards to ensure that if counties propose motions regarding Croke Park, they won’t be ruled out of order on technicalities. Thirdly, Lansdowne Road will be closed for redevelopment, so the use of Croke Park has become a national issue.”
However changing the rule will not be easy as it requires a two-thirds majority to authorise any amendments.
Thanks to Maca for the heads up!
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