All going in opposite directions

So, red faces all around again. While the National League demonstrates its inability to bring two matches forward 24 hours without calling in the United Nations to sort out the subsequent row, the GAA shows, as long as they can afford not to, that the 21st century is something they'd rather not have anything to do with.

If the one third plus one of the delegates who bothered to vote no on Saturday brought some humiliation on the GAA's leadership and those who have supported it, though, it is nothing to the shame the entire Congress incident brings on Bertie Ahern and the Government.

For some time now a significant aspect of the debate about opening up Croke Park - which has been running well over budget and therefore threatening to become a major drain on the association's finances - to outside sports had been the revenue it would generate.

Rugby, of course, was the sport of choice, but even the prospect of the rule change was enough to have at least one prominent supportive commentator of the organisation here in The Irish Times proposing wagers on the Ireland versus Holland World Cup qualifier taking place there in the autumn.

As it turned out, even the extremely remote prospect of the two organisations falling into each others arms that quickly was killed off by the timing of the Government's huge financial commitment to the construction of the stadium.

The timing was a spectacularly cynical exercise that we can only assume contributed to Saturday's vote.

The main victim of the outcome are the IRFU who have had the prospective alternative of playing their biggest games at Croke Park taken away at a time they are supposed to be talking to the Government about moving to the National Stadium.

The deal between the FAI and the Government over Abbotstown, meanwhile, is so complicated and relies on so many ifs and buts that its true value is almost impossible to accurately gauge at this stage. Coincidentally, however, the £60 million the GAA have been promised is felt by many to be in the ballpark.

Supporters of the GAA argue, and rightly, that it deserves every penny on the basis of the contribution it makes to our society, but then no one is seriously arguing the FAI does not.

The difference is, however, the GAA have received their funding without having any particular conditions attached.

The FAI had to abandon Eircom Park when precisely this sort of funding might have made the entire scheme viable. What it wouldn't have done was get an 80,000 stadium - which few people can spot a genuine need for - built in another part of the city.

The figure the FAI's tenancy should generate is estimated at somewhere slightly over £2 million per annum.

The IRFU would probably chip in something over half that amount, but will doubtless still get a major commitment regarding future funding in order to grease the wheels during the move from Lansdowne Road.

The upshot is that, even before some £300 million of taxpayers' money is spent on actually building the stadium, over £150 million will have been chucked about ensuring some company can come in and run it without going bust.

If the GAA is determined to remain so blinkered about the potential for co-operation with the likes of the IRFU and FAI then there is little that can be done about the matter.

The £60 million handed out at the weekend, though, could actually have been linked to the GAA abandoning Rule 42.

After all, if the present Government wasn't so hell-bent on building Abbotstown, they might be expected to use their position and money to build bridges between our major sports organisations.

Sadly, of course, it wasn't to be.

emalone@irish-times.ie