West's awake and marching on Dublin

Restless Connacht natives, about 600 of them, congregatedin the Radisson Hotel in Galway last night to express their anger over the impending demise of their provincial team.

Quite where exactly it will take them they're not sure, but a momentum has gathered west of the Shannon, and 62 Lansdowne Road had better expect an invasion next Thursday when the IRFU committee meets to discuss Connacht's fate.

Cobbled together barely three days before, the "Friends of Connacht" called last night's public meeting, which took place in a swanky hotel overlooking Galway Bay, although somewhat fittingly they were corralled into the basement night club. Ralph O'Gorman, Galway Bay FM commentator and Connacht rugby historian, noted the presence of so many people from hurling and football as well.

Amid the anger which was expressed from the floor, the first shoots of a campaign sprouted, encompassing both protests at next Thursday's committee meeting and a lobbying campaign through the other branches for the potentially fateful council meeting (or e.g.m.) in early February which the Connacht Branch have called.

It began angrily and finished constructively, with a welter of proposed protests and steps to take. The meeting was initially addressed by one of the "friends", namely Dano Heaslip, a former Connacht player and ex- Galwegians president.

He maintained that "the disbandment of Connacht should be the last option, not the first option" of the IRFU, and accused the union of committing "the most despicable, sneaky, sly act" by leaking Connacht's impending demise.

Drawing the first round of applause, Heaslip claimed the meeting should be the beginning of a process whereby a message is taken to "62 Lansdowne Road that we are not going to be thrown out, full stop. Connacht will stay".

Heaslip also unveiled a list of proposals, which included bringing a trainload of protestors - organised by Galway Bay FM - to headquarters next Thursday.

The backdrop was a video screen showing the Connacht-Pontypridd game attended by an estimated 5,000 people the previous Saturday, which then gave away to the slogan: "The IRFU have problems - The problem is not Connacht!"

The meeting was attended by the Connacht team manager, John Fallon, on behalf of the Connacht team, or what he termed "an endangered species".

Eamonn Feely, honorary treasurer of the Connacht

Branch, and Billy Glynn, one of Connacht's two delegates who

are ploughing lonely furrows in the IRFU committee rooms, outlined the stark realities of

what the union hierarchy are proposing.

Feely believes the union "are going for the easy option to try and save €2 million. We have to fight that on two fronts, we have to fight it in the public forum, and we have to fight it in the political forum."

Glynn upped the temperature. "This entire debate has been centred around money, but it's not about money. Money is being used as a vehicle to get rid of Connacht."

The union "had been in freefall in their spending" in the last six to eight years, he said, and accused them of wastage and a failure to re-evaluate their assets.

Glynn also alleged that "something happened that the rank and file of the union haven't been told about", namely that an IRFU official had pledged to Welsh and Scottish officials that Ireland would reduce its number of participating teams from four to three in keeping with a new, slimlined 10-team Celtic League.

Raising the temperature further, Glynn also suggested that the Ulster Branch had already taken a vote agreeing to the proposed disbandment of Connacht. If so, he said, "that is an absolute scandal".

Enda Carthy, of Longford Rugby Club, said he would be part of the protest in Dublin and, if the committee press ahead with their decision, would take a match to an Irish jersey - which drew a hot round of applause - "because it will no longer be an Irish rugby team if Connacht is no longer a part of it".

Joe Connolly, the former Galway hurling All-Ireland winning captain, called for "temper, and heart and fight", and went a long way to provoking it with an impassioned speech.

"Thanks be to God the IRFU don't run Gaelic in Connacht, because there'd be no Leitrim or no Sligo."

As well as possible legal action, there were proposals to lobby sponsors, along with every club and branch in the country with a view to influencing the vote at the full council meeting, which will be attended by the 22 committee members, past IRFU presidents and 10 delegates from each branch.

Shane O'Mahony, former treasure of Connacht, pointed out that with 10 Connacht delegates and two committee members, they needed about another 23 or 24 votes for the required simple majority to stave off their execution.

Amid all the emotion, O'Gorman kept a brilliant hold on proceedings and organised the formation of a committee to put the many proposals into action.

Then they made off into the night with a new rendition of The Three Proud Provinces of Ireland, as released by Galway Bay FM. Connacht, together standing tall.