The GAA is to receive £60,000,000 towards the redevelopment of Croke Park from the Government over the next three years. The sensational announcement was made by GAA president Sean McCague at the start of this year's annual congress in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin, last night.

The money will be paid in three annual tranches of £15,000,000 over the next three years plus a special payment of another £15,000,000 to render the stadium ready and suitable for the Special Olympics in 2003 when the opening ceremony will be held at Croke Park. The proposed funding brings to £85,000,000 the amount given to the redevelopment from public funds over the past seven years.

Against the backdrop of this afternoon's debate on the reform of Rule 42 - which is used to prohibit other sports being played on GAA grounds - last night's announcement was especially dramatic. Opinions vary as to the impact but the early consensus was that it would be hard for the GAA now to take the money and still hold on to their exclusivist tradition.

It had been expected that the GAA would receive some Government funding in the future but few had anticipated the news coming so quickly and in advance of the next general election. In return there has been an undertaking to play a programme of games at Stadium Ireland when it is built in five years' time. As of last night there were no further details of the nature of these programmes.

Clearly the scale of the public funding is a risk for the Government. Should the GAA decide to continue to exclude other sports in the five-year interim, there would be public anger. On the other hand, should the hosting of big international occasions prove a success at Croke Park, it would considerably diminish the argument in favour of the large-scale national stadium proposed by the Government.

At the start of proceedings at Congress, Sean McCague made the following statement:

"At Central Council I informed members present of the result of our ongoing discussions with the government in relation to assisting our association's activities, commensurate with our efforts and investment and with the assistance afforded to other main sporting organisations. I am very pleased indeed to be able to inform you now of the details of the Government's further generous commitment to our association.

"They have committed a total of £45,000,000 to Croke Park over the next three years and have pledged a further £15,000,000 for the necessary work to the northern end to render it ready and suitable to host the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics in 2003. The Government has also agreed to provide funding for the association's games development and capital projects countrywide over the next decade.

"This capital injection, allied to the earning capacity of the stadium and the maximization of the exploitation of the commercial opportunities that it presents, allows me to assure you now that Croke Park will never be a financial burden on the association.

"On the contrary, it will develop in a short few years not just as the association's symbol of confidence and vibrancy, but as the association's economic dynamo."

The promise of future funding from the Government for games development is particularly good news for the GAA. There have been reservations expressed about the future of games development were this afternoon's motion on Rule 42 not to be passed - in that the GAA would have to find the money that could otherwise be raised in rental, somewhere else and that coaching and promotion would feel the pinch.

Further light was shed on the prospects for the Rule 42 debate when McCague stated in his announcement. "We wish these (other) sporting organisations well in this climate of investment in sport generally and we welcome the opportunity of sitting down with the other sporting organisations in the context of the opportunity and vista which these developments present."