Turbulent beginnings but no animosity these days between the National Athletics and Cultural Association of Ireland (NACAI) and the principal governing body of athletics in Ireland, BLE. The old wounds have healed, and yesterday at Santry Stadium the 75th aniversary of the 32-county NACAI was celebrated in milder conditions than when it was born.

Olympic medallists Dr Pat O'Callaghan and Bob Tisdall were both members of the smaller NACAI branch of athletics in its politicised, embryonic years, with current Olympic 800 metre runner David Mathews of UCD one of its more illustrious latter-day figures.

Boasting up to 23,000 members from north and south of the Border, the NACAI was formed in 1922. BLE governs only those members in the Irish Republic.

"BLE is still 26 counties and holds the international license in this country. We each hold our own identity but if an athlete is good enough it doesn't matter if he or she is BLE or NACAI," says president Rita Brady. "We are all working for the betterment of athletics."

With their own sets of national records, their own rules governing competitions and their own administration, it's a quaint organisation with a strong emphasis on cultural traditions. Lyrical names like Gneeveguilla, Kilmihil, Coolquill mark out the NACAI as rooted in far-flung parishes and a polishborn national coach, Zbigniew Osywal, broadens its borders even further - essentially what the NACAI is all about.