McCague faces real test over Rule 21

In all his years of GAA toil Sean McCague has never given the impression that he is the type of man to shirk a challenge. That is probably just as well because when the incoming president of the GAA assumes office next month he will be confronted by an in-tray mounting with problems. Player agitation and continuing rumblings of indiscipline have been persistent irritants throughout the winter and the pot was stirred further by events at the Balmoral Conference Centre last Saturday. McCague's honeymoon period is likely to be short and sweet.

The weekend Ulster Unionist resolution, which yoked retention of the RUC name to any re-entry by them into government here, has numerous implications. It is certain to add further fuel to the ongoing debate surrounding Rule 21 and the GAA commitment to remove it when the Patten reforms have been fully implemented. Given that is by no means certain that the Patten recommendations will not be modified or even shelved completely, where does that leave the new president and his association?

Almost two years have passed since Joe McDonagh opened up the issue of Rule 21 for debate in the immediate aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. In those heady days the pace of reform was almost breathless as the rush towards removal of the rule gathered momentum. The manner in which the Ulster delegates then subtly applied the brakes has been well-documented and little has happened in the interim to suggest their minds may have changed.

A time-frame for police reform is in place but recent history here suggests that timetables do not have the same fixed currency as they might have elsewhere. Rule 21 may well be viewed as an anachronism by some, but in an uncertain political world it has lost none of its potent symbolism.

The column inches which have been devoted to this issue over the last decade may be tiresome for non-Northern eyes but that detachment has served only to increase the feelings of isolation within Ulster GAA circles. There is considerable resentment at the way in which its members are portrayed in some quarters outside the province as implacable forces against progress. Many Northern GAA activists view these criticisms as ill-informed and a significant minority have reacted by digging in their heels just a little further.

As a Monaghan man and seasoned campaigner in the internal politics of the Ulster Council, Sean McCague will be very familiar with this confused landscape. All of his public utterances on the subject so far suggest he is singing from the same hymn sheet as Joe McDonagh in relation to Rule 21 and he remains committed to the view that removal of Rule 21 and the full implementation of Patten go hand in hand.

But amidst that resolute toeing of the party line, McCague has also made some very interesting asides. On more than one occasion he has spoken enigmatically about the need for those in positions of GAA leadership to show an extra bit of courage and imagination. What this means is anyone's guess, as McCague has not elaborated any further. But it does suggest that the new president reserves the right to take the initiative if the opportunity presents itself.

Decisions like those taken by the Ulster Unionists at the weekend obviously leave him with less room to manoeuvre but there is a very real sense that we are watching some GAA ground being prepared for future action. McCague's credentials as someone who understands what makes Ulster GAA tick are impeccable and among the counties he has a ready-made constituency and support base. If the opportunity presents itself he might just be the man to persuade some of the die-hards to travel the extra mile with him.

FOR ALL his personal skills and unstinting commitment, Joe McDonagh was never afforded this sort of access to Ulster's inner-sanctum and this presented insurmountable problems when he attempted to impose reform from the outside. This is where Sean McCague has a significant advantage and in the right circumstances he might be able to use it.

What those circumstances would be remains the stuff of conjecture. One optimistic assessment, even in the light of last Saturday's votes, is that the governments will press ahead with Patten regardless of Unionist opposition. It is therefore possible that reform of the police force could become a reality. This must be something that McCague and the GAA have factored in to their planning. In such a scenario both are likely to come under considerable pressure to reply in kind with some sort of movement on Rule 21.

That debate would be hard fought because the media barrage has hardened many attitudes and elevated the rule to something approaching iconic status. Discussions that take place in the formal environment of an Annual Congress bear little relation to the views that are held in club-rooms in north Belfast, Derry or Tyrone and the squaring of that circle would represent a real test of Sean McCague's leadership skills. The toughest judgment call would be whether the GAA as a whole, and within Ulster in particular, is really ready to shift its position.

There were times during the last 30 years of violence here when the association visibly struggled to hold its non-political line. The biggest challenge was probably the highly charged atmosphere of the 1981 hunger strikes but the GAA managed to come through that. Rule 21 represents another challenge because the discussions that now surround it are in many ways a microcosm of the wider debate in society as a whole. Given the right sequence of events there may be room for the type of imaginative leap Sean McCague has in mind. But now, and in the light of what happened at the weekend when the Ulster Unionist party revealed its internal divisions that scenario seems a long, long way off.

Joe McDonagh would have regarded the consignment of Rule 21 to the history books at next month's Congress as a fitting coda to his presidency. But the chances of that happening now look more unlikely than ever. Despite all the laudable intentions, the reality is that, with Ulster opposition to removal as implacable as ever, Rule 21 seems certain to remain part of the culture of the GAA for some time to come.