Debate to proceed but Rule 42 set to remain

Rule 42 is set to be debated this morning at the GAA Annual Congress in Dublin's Burlington Hotel. Last night GAA trustee Noel Walsh, whose club submitted the proposal, reiterated his intention to put the motion.

"Last Tuesday the Clare County Board considered what to do and decided that it would press ahead with the motion. It's the county's decision not mine."

Clare's motion is simply to allow Central Council to decide on the use of Croke Park for other sports. It is a rerun of the motion put forward by Roscommon a year ago that failed by two votes to secure the necessary two thirds majority. All indications this time around are that the motion will not be accepted and may even be defeated.

The feeling around the congress hotel last night seemed to be that expected measures to withdraw the motion had been abandoned. "The president's thoughts on the matter are that if Clare want to run with it, let them," was the view of one source.

It will be up to the county to decide whether the motion is in danger of not receiving the one third of the vote necessary if the matter is not to be barred from consideration for another three years. There is also some momentum behind deferring the debate until the special congress on the Strategic Review Committee's report, the date of which will be decided today.

Later this morning the GAA will choose its president-elect. Seán Kelly of Kerry is the front-runner - to an extent that was bothering some of his connections last night. His closest competitor is likely to be Longford's Albert Fallon with Mayo's PJ McGrath and Seamus Aldridge of Kildare bringing up the rear.

The nature of an election like this - small electorate and multiplicity of candidates - makes it hard to call. It is now being organised on the basis of a one-vote ballot conducted under the rules of PR.

Unlike in previous elections, this means that delegations will not be able to pick and choose their options after each round of voting.

Kelly has a clear run in Munster since the withdrawal of Noel Walsh whereas Fallon has to cope with a split in his province although he is expected to out-poll Aldridge significantly in Leinster. McGrath has been making confident noises all week but most observers aren't convinced.

"I can't see where he's going to get the votes," according to one involved delegate.

Fallon, still smarting after a big defeat three years ago, will pick up some votes in Ulster despite having run against a Northern candidate the last time. He has got around the country as head of the Policy and Planning committee but has some catching-up to do.

Kelly is believed to have a firm grip on the overseas vote as a result of his chairing of the Overseas Development committee and has also made significant inroads into Ulster thanks to extensive working of the counties. The best estimate is that he should top the poll without reaching the quota but with enough of a cushion to survive later counts.

The debate on the SRC report is scheduled at the end of the clar. Dublin have called for the dropping of the motion, the removal of the proposals to split the county north and south and the withdrawal of Dublin-related proposals in order to allow the other provisions of the report to be debated.

On a separate matter raised during the debate on GAA director general Liam Mulvihill's annual report, Dublin chairman John Bailey questioned the £40,000 dividend distributed to counties out of the additional revenue brought in by last year's All-Ireland qualifier series in football. He said that it represented only 0.8 per cent of the total raised and that this was "very disappointing".

Earlier at Central Council, an appeal by Rathnew players Trevor Doyle and Tommy Gill against their three-month suspensions was dismissed. The pair had been suspended for kicking opponents during the Rathnew-Ballinderry All-Ireland club semi-final on February 24th. Their appeal was based on a technicality that the wrong enabling provision - Rule 149 (d) rather than 149 (c) - for the use of video evidence had been cited in the written notification of the suspension.

The inappropriate provision relates to the giving of false or forged evidence rather than the use of video evidence.

Paraic Duffy, chairman of the Games Administration Committee, defended the suspension. "It was the unanimous view of GAC, having viewed the video, to prefer charges," he said before going on to dispute the technical argument. "The suggestion is that we misapplied rule 149 (d). We were not suggesting for a moment that they gave false or forged evidence. That was a typographical error. It clearly states that the players were suspended under Rule 138."