The Armagh County Board have declared that the issues of British army occupation of part of the Crossmaglen club grounds and Rule 21 of the GAA are "completely separate".
Rule 21 forbids membership of the GAA to members of the RUC and the British armed forces. In an official statement, the board said that the two issues are not linked in any way, but added that a widespread debate on Rule 21 and its proposed abolition will be conducted at club level before next month's special congress.
The statement from the Armagh board reads: "Armagh County Board welcome, with a certain amount of apprehension, the current speculation concerning the return of its property to Crossmaglen Rangers from the British armed forces.
"The club and county have fought a dignified campaign for over a quarter of a century to have the property returned to its rightful owners.
"Crossmaglen Rangers have had their hopes of British withdrawal from the GAA grounds raised many times in the past 20 years only to be let down. In appreciating the recent efforts by our association and the Irish Government, we wish them well in their determination finally to achieve this aim and allow, as is their right, this club to continue the development of our association's activities without any further interruptions, harassment or intimidation. We look forward to a complete British withdrawal from the grounds. "In a completely separate issue in reference to developments concerning Rule 21 at the annual congress last weekend, it is the intention of the county board to circulate all clubs within the county with a full report on the proceedings. The board will then meet with the clubs to discuss the report and, in turn, will relay the democratic decision of the entire county to the special congress due to be held on May 30th."
It seems clear the Armagh board wishes to have the Crossmaglen issue divorced completely from the Rule 21 problem. It is interesting that Armagh have also indicated that the question of Rule 21 will have to be debated at club level and that the various club delegates to a subsequent county board meeting will, apparently, be mandated by their clubs as to how they should vote, and that the central council delegates would then, by extension, be mandated as to how to vote at the special congress. It will be remembered that this procedure was used in the run-up to the annual congress in Belfast in 1971, when the "foreign games ban" was removed from the rule book, and that delegates to that year's congress were mandated by this democratic procedure. On that occasion, only Antrim and Sligo voted against the removal of the ban. In the immediate aftermath of that decision, it was ironic that Sligo selected two prominent Sligo Rovers players, David Pugh and Gerry Mitchell, to the county team. The Crossmaglen club has been greatly disturbed by the activities of the British army for many years, and serious intimidation and harassment of members of the club, including juvenile members, has been a feature of life in the Crossmaglen club. Successive Irish governments have made representations to their British counterparts without effect, and the matter has become something of a "running sore" in Ulster GAA circles. It has frequently been quoted as a reason for the retention of Rule 21.
