Sir, - In his letter of April 27th, Danny Lynch, PRO of the GAA, states that Rule 42 - the grounds ban on rugby and soccer - "has been in existence for over a century". At a Special Congress in 1971 following the dropping of the foreign games ban, the central council was given unlimited authority in regard to the use of GAA grounds for field games. That dispensation was curtailed at a special congress in 1985, which limited the use of GAA grounds to "purposes not in conflict with the aims and objects of the Association". This effectively restored a strand of the foreign games ban in regard to the use of grounds.
It should be mentioned that the central council never exercised the discretion given it by the 1971 Special Congress in favour of any of the games previously banned.
The atmosphere at that 1971 special congress gave promise of the dawn of a liberal era in the history of the GAA. It has yet to materialise. - Yours, etc.,
TOM WOULFE,
Victoria Road,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.