The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) meets this afternoon in Dublin and looks set to delete Rule 21, the controversial provision that bans members of the British security forces from joining the association. The GAA president, Mr Sean McCague's welcome initiative in convening the special congress has been driven by practical concerns - primarily the undesirability of obstructing the success of the new Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Opposition to the reform has been confined largely to Sinn FΘin influences within the GAA. The party's unease with the move on Rule 21 reflects its likely isolation on the policing issue. In the past, republican influence on the question has been strong, because the views of the six Northern Ireland counties have carried sufficient weight amongst the remaining counties to veto any progress.
There are obvious reasons why Sinn FΘin has found the Northern GAA membership such fertile ground. Harassment, indignities, and much worse, have been at the heart of the poisoned relations between the association and the security forces. These experiences have generally been accepted as conferring on these counties a uniquely authoritative perspective on the ban. In fact, there is a stronger argument that people caught in this situation are less likely to see the bigger picture.
The bigger picture might not matter if the rule was of some practical benefit to nationalists. But it is hard to argue that such a provocative provision does anything except aggravate an already inflamed situation. As such, it has been a nationalist luxury that the rest of the GAA was willing to support on a theoretical basis. That environment has now changed.
Not alone, would perpetuating the rule be a blow to policing reform, but members of the GAA prohibited from pursuing a career because of it would be entitled to take legal action with every chance of success. If the future of the PSNI is the most pressing concern within Northern Ireland, there have been other realities closer to home for the counties in this State.
A court in Kilkenny has already expressed the view that an objection to a GAA club's drinks' licence could be sustained if grounded in discrimination under the Equal Status Act. It is hard to think of a more practical problem for clubs than having their bars shut down. Furthermore, in these days of handsome Government grants to the GAA, the danger of a similar challenge to such funding cannot be dismissed.
Whatever the motivation behind the attempt to rid itself of this divisive and anachronistic provision, the GAA, and its president in particular, are to be commended for persuading so many that Rule 21 has to go. Better late than never. It may not be quite the beginning of a brave new world for the association but it is the end of an embarrassing old one.