A PROUD tradition, dating back to 1923, will be broken at Easter when the West of Ireland Championship is staged at the Enniscrone links, overlooking Killala Bay. The decision was taken yesterday by the Connacht Branch, with the agreement of the Co Sligo club, the championship's spiritual home.

Problems with the Co Sligo greens caused the club to embark on a re sodding programme last year. Remedial work was extended, however, when it became necessary to resod two of the greens a second time.

The upshot was that the Connacht Branch considered it appropriate last month to have the links inspected by Paddy Merrigan, a qualified agronomist. Based on his report, the branch concluded that it would not be possible to play the West at Rosses Point this Easter.

Co Sligo were still hopeful of retaining the event, however, given the experience of 1992. On that occasion, difficulties with the greens at Easter led to the championship being postponed to August when it was won by local player, Kenneth Kearney.

This time, however, the branch were determined to retain the Easter slot in the fixture list, because of the difficulty in finding alternative dates later in the year. So, at a meeting on Sunday, they opted for Enniscrone, which played host to the Irish Close Championship in 1993, when Eddie Power beat David Higgins in the final.

"We didn't discuss the 1998 championship but I wouldn't envisage any problem about returning to Co Sligo," said Tom Grealy, chairman of the Connacht Branch, yesterday. "In the meantime, I'm pleased about the outcome of Sunday's meeting which, I feel, was in the best interests of all concerned."

As it happened, Co Sligo ceded their right to stage the championship this year, so facilitating the move to Enniscrone where a new clubhouse will be completed in March. Easter has been the traditional fixture slot for the West of Ireland since 1931.

Enniscrone secretary, John Fleming, said that, while they were delighted to be asked by the Connacht Branch to host such a prestigious event, they were saddened by the present difficulties at Rosses Point and were confident the problems would soon be overcome.