Gaelic football set for Sydney

THE secretary of the Irish Association Club in Sydney. Shelia Carr, has made an official approach to the organisers of the Sydney Olympic Games to have Gaelic football included as a demonstration sport.

Carr has cited the fact that the game is played in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and, of course, Ireland, and that it is now being seen worldwide on television.

GAA president Jack Boothman, hearing about the idea for the first time, said last night that the association would be "absolutely-delighted" to support any such move.

"Wouldn't it be great. The GAA would give its full backing to the introduction of Gaelic football as, a demonstration sport. Personally, I would prefer if it were hurling, - that was being discussed, but anything that would help to spread "the gospel of Gaelic games world-wide would be welcome. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it," he added.

John Farrell, who is closely involved with the GAA club at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown, was in charge of a recent tour by the university team to Australia and says he was "staggered" by the amount of interest shown by Australians in the game.

Although the idea may take some time to gain momentum Farrell believes that support from the Olympic Council of Ireland could be influential.

Gaelic football and Australian Rules football have already had an association. The countries played several international matches in Australia and Ireland under a form of composite rules.

Although a number of internationals in Ireland attracted substantial crowds, enthusiasm for the game in Australia was muted and the series ended.

One match in Croke Park, about 10 years ago, attracted a crowd of more than 40,000 and was later described as "space age football" by an Australian official as the Irish team beat the Australians to win the series in a thrilling match

Australian Rules football has close links to the Irish game and a number of Gaelic footballers have been successful in the professional game in Australia, including Jim Stynes from Dublin, who was voted the most valuable player in Australia on one occasion. His brother Brian, the current Dublin midfielder, also spent some time in Australian Rules football.

For many years the GAA was part of the Irish Olympic movement and the GAA held a seat on the OCI. In those days the GAA was the controlling body for athletics in Ireland.