Down last night became the first Northern Ireland-based county board to vote for the abolition of Rule 21, which bars members of Northern Ireland’s security forces from joining the GAA.
At a meeting in Ballycastle, the board elected to remove the controversial rule and thereby broke ranks with its counterparts in Antrim, Armagh, Fermanagh, and Derry.
The three Ulster teams in the Republic have all voted to scrap the rule.
Last night’s decision gives Down’s delegates the mandate to vote for abolition at Saturday’s special GAA Congress in Dublin.
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The congress was scheduled following the official changeover earlier this month from the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland as part of the Belfast Agreement.