Rule 21 debate alive and kicking
By Dan O'Neill
So the GAA's infamous Rule 21 is a dead cert to be deleted at next
April's Congress in Galway according to Martin Breheny's `exclusive'
in the Ireland on Sunday on November 21. Finally, that unique double
of owning a George Cross and an All-Ireland medal might be a
possibility after all.
The abolition of Rule 21 would be a fitting finale to the Presidency
of Joe McDonagh, whose untimely attempt to abolish the rule failed at
Congress last year.
McDonagh and some others in the GAA hierarchy have seen the rule which
bans members of the crown forces from participating in Gaelic games as
an embarrassment to the organisation which was criticised as being
impervious to the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.
According to some quarters of the media, by remaining tight-lipped on
any response to the publication of the Patten Report, the GAA was
blowing it's chance to ``prove a force of conciliation''.
There should, however, be no inclination on the part of the GAA to
abolish Rule 21 given nationalist unease with the proposals put
forward by Patten, which have fallen short of the promised new
beginning to policing in the Good Friday Agreement.
Sinn Féin this week has expressed particular concern about how the
British government will handle the unionist demands in relation to the
name of any new police service and its symbols. There was also regret
that the commission firmly refused to pass judgement on the RUC's past
record or provide any mechanism for dealing with individual abusive
officers.
A failure to ban the use of plastic bullets and inadequate target
levels for Catholic representation in any new policing service are
other worrying aspects of the Patten Commission's findings.
These fears will be on the minds of delegates in the run up to next
year's Congress and until we really have a police force that in the
spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, is impartial and representative
of all section of the community, and until the harassment of members
of the GAA by the crown forces ends the Rule 21 debate will not have
gone away ya know, Joe!
Tough draw for McCarthy's men
It seems that late equaliser by Macedonia in Stopje in October has
come back to haunt Mick McCarthy again. Goran Stavrevski's header not
only denied Ireland a place in this summer's Euro 2000, but also made
the task of qualifying for the 2002 World Cup much more difficult.
Failure to reach the European finals meant that McCarthy's men were in
Pot C for the World Cup draw in Tokyo on Tuesday, rather than the
easier draw of Pot B. This meant that Ireland was drawn against
Holland and Portugal, two very good sides, in Group 2 of the
qualifiers. We shouldn't have too much to worry about regarding the
other sides in the group. Cyprus, Andorra and Estonia are hardly
giants of the European football scene but Ireland have a daunting task
ahead. Only the group winners will qualify for the World Cup outright
with the runners-up having to face a play-off to reach the finals.
It's difficult to be positive about the draw. There's no doubt that
Holland and Portugal are among the best in Europe at the moment.
Although we have a good record at home under McCarthy, I would worry
about our ability to take points off the top sides when travelling,
especially if we employ the tactics of the Croatia and Macedonia games
where we seemed to defend for the whole game, rarely creating any
chances.
It would be a major achievement if we reached the finals and it would
be nice to settle some old scores against the Dutch who knocked us out
of the World Cup in 1994 and similarly, ended our hopes of reaching
Euro `96 with that play-off win at Anfield. But Mick McCarthy can only
play the card he is dealt and the reality is that, with so many first
division players involved in our squad, we are short of the quality
needed to beat the best in Europe. Maybe it is time to get rid of some
of the dead wood in the Irish team and bring in some of the talented
youngsters available to McCarthy. Stephen McPhail of Leeds and Michael
Reddy of Sunderland, (who according to Peter Reid is the most
outstanding youngster he has worked with) are two excellent prospects
and should be given their chance. We have nothing to lose after
Tuesday's tough draw!
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