GAELIC GAMES:The GAA has responded sharply to the British government's revelation that it took the decision not to commemorate Bloody Sunday at next Saturday's rugby international at Croke Park after consulting with both the GAA and the IRFU.

According to GAA PRO Danny Lynch there was surprise that the matter had been released into the public arena in this way and reservations about the motives behind the suggestion that a wreath be laid at the ground.

"This arose in a courtesy visit about two weeks ago to Croke Park by the British ambassador and was raised rather obliquely. We felt it unsuited to a sporting occasion and therefore inappropriate and inconsequential.

"The circumstances and manner in which it was proposed weren't acceptable for something we felt should be done a) in a non-sporting context and b) unequivocally. We weren't inclined to be receptive to what was felt to be political opportunism."

The basis for this strong reaction is that the idea of a formal gesture was not at any stage contemplated or encouraged by the GAA and the fact that it was nonetheless pursued even to the point where yesterday's briefing implied that the issue was up for negotiation has clearly irked the association.

It is believed that the raising of the commemoration during the above courtesy visit was a surprise to the GAA delegation of president Nickey Brennan, director general Liam Mulvihill and Lynch, who says that this was an unwelcome development.

"The approach lacked sensitivity and understanding as to how this matter should be dealt with. Our belief was that it should be a stand-alone exercise conducted genuinely and unequivocally without any ambiguity about the gesture. The reality is that this was placed on the public agenda through leaks to try and pre-empt our reaction."

There are a number of reasons for the GAA's opposition to the wreath laying.

One was the context of the weekend's rugby match and the overtones of reconciliation in respect of an event for which the association clearly feels an outright apology is due.

Although the GAA has always maintained the significance of its members' sacrifice on Bloody Sunday it has equally always distanced itself from the actions of Michael Collins's agents in killing British military personnel that morning, which led to the reprisal at Croke Park.

After weighing up the situation, the authorities had decided to proceed with the Dublin-Tipperary challenge match that day in November 1920 precisely because it was felt that to do otherwise would in some way associate the GAA with what had happened earlier in the day.

The second reason for the reluctance is the stated belief that a sports fixture is not the appropriate time to come to terms with something that, although it took place during a match, has long ago grown into a broader political concern. Given that Saturday is an IRFU occasion, from which the GAA will deliberately step back, the weekend's match is seen as an especially unsuitable platform for any such gesture.

Finally, there is a strong concern that the use of Croke Park by other sports shouldn't be confused in any way with such a powerful political and historical context.

As another source within the GAA hierarchy put it last week: "This whole thing was never sold as anything other than a practical gesture of providing a venue for other sports while they were temporarily homeless. Trying to cast it as a major political gesture is something we've been trying to avoid."

According to Lynch, the clumsiness of the manner in which the issue has been handled demonstrated that British officials sometimes don't understand the realities of such situations and the difficulties they can cause, as illustrated by the decision last week of former Kerry All-Ireland winner JJ Barrett to withdraw his father's medals from the GAA Museum in protest at the playing of God Save the Queen before the upcoming rugby international.

"The GAA understands the huge sensitivities about flags and anthems, but once the decision (to make Croke Park available) was taken we also understood that every country must be treated equally.

"Coming from a small farming background in west Kerry, I am now convinced that those of my father's generation had a greater grasp and understanding of Anglo-Irish relations - which for them revolved around the purely practical challenge of the Economic War - than the various suits in Whitehall that I have had to occasionally interact with."