Madam, - Having read all the letters exulting in the events at Croke Park last Saturday, I feel it may be timely to call for a reciprocal gesture from the IRFU? The thought is prompted by GAA president Nicky Brennan's "great disappointment" that more Protestant secondary schools had not opened their doors to Gaelic games. But of course Protestant schools are not the only ones who ignore the national games. In the so-called up-market Roman Catholic secondary schools - notably those under the control of the Jesuits - Gaelic games are also virtually non-existent. In the light of recent developments, especially in the GAA, may we expect a similarly positive gesture from the rugby fraternity? - Yours, etc,
JOHN CLARKE, Clonminch Avenue, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Madam, - Gary Fitzgerald (March 1st) asks: if the sport had been soccer, would the event have passed off smoothly? Would not the staging of the Setanta Cup match between Drogheda United and Linfield answer this question? Television coverage showed us smiling children and adult supporters waving Ulster flags, Union Jacks and Irish Tricolours in the same ground without a hint of trouble.
The only reason that Irish soccer remains divided is because it is supported by Irish people both North and South, of all religions and none, and of all classes, something to which neither the rugby authorities nor the GAA can lay historic claim. - Yours, etc,
EOIN HURLEY, Hillview Drive, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.