It has emerged that the controversial £60 million Government grant to the GAA probably shifted the vote against the reform of Rule 42.

Dublin's delegation was one of a number which spilt on the issue. Had the full delegation backed Roscommon's motion to refer the use of Croke Park by other sports to Central Council the proposal would have passed.

At the beginning of last week, the Dublin clubs gathered to give their opinions on the issue. "We wanted to get the views of the membership," according to county secretary John Costello.

"During the discussion it became clear that there was a major concern that central funds were being concentrated on physical development and that games development, coaching and promotion would lose out. The feeling was that if Croke Park could recoup money from renting the stadium to other sports, that should be done."

On Friday evening just as Congress began, president Sean McCague made the announcement of substantial public funding for the Croke Park redevelopment plus additional resources for games development. In the circumstances the financial danger had lifted and the rationale behind the clubs' views had disappeared.

"Some of the delegation decided," said Costello, "that the money made a difference to the way they should vote". The motion barely failed to secure the necessary two-thirds majority and Dublin, instead of voting 11-0 in favour, went only 7-4 for the proposal. Had Dublin stuck with their original intentions, the motion would have been passed.

On the Friday and Saturday there was no evidence of the impact of the money on the argument. This revelation will increase scepticism about the timing of the Government announcement which now all too clearly influenced the debate.

With the matter still to come before cabinet - and junior coalition members, the Progressive Democrats, apparently unaware of the funding decision - there will still be questions as to what prompted the grant, given that the vote has been widely perceived to strengthen the chances of the Government's Stadium Ireland project proceeding.

It remains to be seen what action if any the Dublin county board will take on the failure of the delegation to reflect its views.

Meanwhile, a leading member of the Limerick County Board executive faces censure for having broken ranks at Congress. A spokesman for the board said they were angry that one of their 10 delegates defied the party whip and voted against the motion to open Croke Park to other sports.

He claimed that the Limerick delegation had met in advance of the congress and agreement was reached to support the Roscommon motion.

The Limerick board are taking the matter so seriously that they have called a special meeting at which the delegate who defied their wishes has been asked to attend and explain his reasoning.

With Limerick shortly to embark on an £8 million redevelopment of the Gaelic Grounds, the consensus within the county is that if they are to make their venture commercially viable, they may have to invite other codes on board to avail of the facility.