Sinn Féin's chief negotiator Martin McGuinness has described as "childish" the GAA's decision not to make tickets available to senior party members for this month's hurling and football All-Ireland finals.
The GAA decided that this should be the punishment for republicans using Casement Park in west Belfast for a hunger strike rally last month contrary to an instruction from Croke Park headquarters that the park must not be used for political purposes.
Mr McGuinness took time out from a press conference on political matters in west Belfast yesterday to chide Croke Park for its decision, and to insist that he and other Sinn Féin members would have no trouble obtaining tickets.
He said the best games he ever witnessed were a Derry victory against Down in the early 1990s, an All-Ireland under-21 success over Offaly in which his older brother played, and Sunday's Mayo versus Dublin clash - "a fantastic game". "Mayo are now going to meet Kerry in the All-Ireland final. "Now, I am going to be at that game because I think it will be a tremendous game. Of course Mickey Moran will be there, a Derryman managing a very good Mayo team against a very, very good Kerry team.
"I have been inundated by GAA clubs all over the island of Ireland with offers of tickets for the great final. So, you can be sure that the Sinn Féin leadership and the Sinn Féin organisation in terms of individual Gaels will be well represented."
Asked about the GAA snub of Sinn Féin, he said: "I just think it was childish."
Turning to politics, Mr McGuinness said a meeting of Sinn Féin's ruling ardchomhairle would today decide whether the party would participate in plenary meetings of the "Hain Assembly" when it returns on Monday week after the summer recess.
The Assembly Programme for Government committee continued to meet through the summer, with direct engagement between Sinn Féin and DUP members. However, Mr McGuinness said these meetings would only prove useful if the DUP agreed to share power with Sinn Féin.
He believed it was "probable" that DUP leader Ian Paisley would not agree to enter a devolved government with Sinn Féin by the British and Irish governments' deadline of November 24th but believed it was "possible" it could happen.
"We are working to make the possibility a reality. We will burst a gut, we will sweat blood to make this happen before November 24th, but it will take Ian Paisley to meet us halfway along the road."
Mr McGuinness indicated that Sinn Féin would have little difficulty in travelling to a special venue for intensive talks designed to find a deal that would allow a return to devolution.
Meanwhile, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) has presented the British and Irish governments with its latest report into whether the British government is meeting its "normalisation" commitments to scale down the British army's presence in the North.
The report, to be published next week, is expected to state that the British government generally is honouring its pledges.
The more politically important IMC report into IRA and other paramilitary activity is due in the first week in October.
