It is symptomatic of how far hopes for the opening of Croke Park to rugby and soccer internationals have receded that the decision merely to debate the issue has been greeted as some sort of breakthrough. The GAA's Congress will decide the matter in April and few people are bullish about the prospects for reform.
What has happened in the past four years to move this issue from the verge of change to a situation where the status quo looks so unshakeable? Government attempts at manipulation have been a major influence, but opposing forces within the association have also had an effect. There has been exhaustive coverage of the manoeuvrings of the GAA's Motions Committee, mostly consisting of former presidents, and the prevention of debate over the past two years, but the movement for change has not been well orchestrated.
Seán Kelly is now nearly two-thirds of the way through his term of office and, although he favours the opening of Croke Park, he has not brought his case to the committee rooms where decisions are made. As things stand the president's biggest victory in respect of the issue has been to see it listed for debate. Clearly, he would have hoped for greater progress than that by this stage.
There has been a public tolerance of the GAA's reluctance to share its most prized possession and sympathy for the request that it be let do things in its own time. That understanding, however, would hardly survive the sight of Irish soccer and rugby teams being forced to play home fixtures overseas. The GAA would then be perceived as mean-spirited, regardless of whether the justification was cultural misgivings or the disinclination to help rival sports in difficulties. And that would be unfair on the GAA, because its membership has not been properly consulted about its wishes. Annual congress is a more conservative body than the membership as a whole and whereas no one can say with certainty that two-thirds of GAA members want to open up Croke Park, it is time that all such views were sought.
The old ban on "foreign games" was swept away by plebiscite nearly 35 years ago. One could be forgiven for thinking that Rule 42 conservatives have learned that lesson well, given that a Clare motion to institute such a process on this issue was struck down by the Motions Committee for less-than-convincing reasons. This issue is an emotive rather than an overly technical one. It would be entirely appropriate for the GAA, given the current set of unusual circumstances, to canvass as widely as possible the views of its membership before reaching any long-term decision.