GAELIC GAMES:GAA sources were saying yesterday that no special congress would be necessary to give permission for a European Cup match to be played in Croke Park, writes Sean Moran

THE GAA, never at its most sure-footed in the glare of public agitation, may have hoped things could have turned out differently, but yesterday’s potential Munster-Leinster draw in the European Cup semi-final inevitably raises the issue of Croke Park’s availability.

Initial reactions to such a prospect were downbeat, but largely on the basis of an erroneous supposition that the terms of the 2005 Congress motion to allow the opening of Croke Park to rugby and soccer internationals wouldn’t allow other levels of either game to be played.

In fact, there is no good reason in the rule book for any potential Munster-Leinster match not to be played in Croke Park.

Rule 44 (as the amended Rule 42 now is) states at the end of its text: “(Note: Central Council shall have the power to authorise the use of Croke Park for games, other than those controlled by the association, during a temporary period when Lansdowne Road Football Ground is closed for the proposed development.

“Congress has approved that Rules 3, 4, 5, 44, 46, 47, 77(f) and 147(g) shall allow for this for a temporary period, at the end of which all these Rules stated shall revert to their pre-Congress 2005 position.)”

So there’s no reference to internationals being the only matches eligible to be played.

By way of confirmation, GAA sources were saying yesterday that no special congress would be necessary to give permission for a European Cup match to be played in Croke Park.

Of course, under the old Rule 42, Central Council actually had the power to allow other sports be played at GAA venues, but never quite developed the stomach for taking a decision on the issue, preferring to insist that the matter was so important it required an additional power be conferred on the council by congress – a state of affairs that naturally became self-fulfilling.

Anyway, four years ago this April the GAA Congress did just that, blowing a hole in the old prohibition and relaxing the ban sufficiently to allow soccer and rugby be played in Croke Park pending the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road.

Initial policy was that friendly matches would not be part of the remit, but no one misses a slice off a cut loaf and so it was no surprise after a season of competitive internationals that Central Council decided to relax that restriction.

There could be argument that to allow the provincial rugby teams play at Croke Park would be at odds with what the 2005 Congress believed it was accepting. But any brief glance back at the nature of that debate indicates the vast majority of the arguments delivered in favour of opening up the stadium were broad and inclusive.

A representative sample of the contributions included: Michael McDonagh (Clare) – “I don’t want to see my friends and relations travel to the Millennium Stadium and Old Trafford to support Irish teams”; Seán Donnelly (Dublin) – “Why should we open it up? The vast majority of members, clubs and counties support it. Keeping Croke Park closed doesn’t help us one iota”; Seán Quirke (Wexford) – “If a neighbour’s house went on fire and you’d a spare room, you wouldn’t leave him out in the cold”.

The main planks of the argument – that the GAA shouldn’t force other Irish teams to take their box-office occasions out of the country – are even sturdier these days with recession stalking every economic indicator and the argument about Irish supporters passing an empty Croke Park en route to Dublin airport even starker given the value of events like this to the local economy.

There may be understandable unhappiness within the GAA at the prospect of the association having a gun put to its head on the basis of current economic conditions given what is felt to the general lack of recognition afforded to the role of Gaelic games in stimulating business activity around the country for more than a century, but that is not of itself a reason to stand in the way of any proposal to allow Irish teams use Croke Park for a prestigious international competition.

The notion of the provinces needing to play in Croke Park hasn’t really arisen since the 2006 European Cup semi-final between Munster and Leinster, which was played in Lansdowne Road. In 2007, a kite was flown about the venue being used by Munster or Leinster for their quarter-finals, but in the event both were drawn away from home.

On a practical level, on the Sunday of the appointed weekend (May 2nd and 3rd) the National Hurling League final is scheduled to take place, but it is understood that should Croke Park be made available the GAA would be in a position to ensure that the rugby match would be played on the Saturday.

Even for those most implacably opposed to rival sports, the argument that a European Cup fixture would represent another twist of the ratchet is unsustainable, in that the IRFU has already announced that it will be playing all of its matches in the new Lansdowne Road as soon as the venue is completed next year.

This would be most likely a once-off event, although the chances of it being repeated next year can’t be dismissed, but that’s as far as the prospect stretches.

From Croke Park’s point of view, the revenue would be most welcome. Only last week stadium director Peter McKenna told this newspaper that projections for 2009 estimated a €4 million decline in profitability as the recession bites into both conference business as well as likely match attendances.

Were Croke Park to sell out for the May semi-final, the stadium finances would have recouped roughly 25 per cent of that projected shortfall, a welcome spin-off for the GAA, which understands that it will be all but impossible to replicate the additional revenues available to it over the four years of redevelopment in Lansdowne Road.

Viewed from this distance, the event looks a likely runner. Even if Leinster don’t survive the trip to London, Munster would be well capable of selling out the 82,000 capacity for the visit of Harlequins.

Further to all of the reasonable arguments why the match should go ahead in Croke Park, the even more compelling fact is that there are no good reasons for it not to.

smoran@irishtimes.com