The gathering momentum of the campaign for unity in athletics was illustrated in the smooth passage of a proposal dealing with one of the enduring problems in Irish sport, at BLE's annual congress in Ballybofey at the weekend.

Item number one on the notices of motion, which called on the board's management committee to bring to a conclusion the ongoing negotiations on unity, was passed unanimously, after an amendment tabled by the Ulster Athletics Council, the Board's northern constituent body, had been withdrawn.

Paddy McGovern, a member of the negotiating team which brought BLE into being in 1967, reported on the progress of the current talks with the National Athletics and Cultural Association (NACA) and the Northern Ireland Athletics Federation (NIAF), which have been in train at irregular intervals since 1985.

Stressing that historical differences yield only slowly to conciliation, he urged delegates to pledge their full support in this, the final crucial stage in the talks.

Fr John O'Donnell, a former BLE President and the veteran northern official Gerry McDonald moved an amendment that the Ulster Sports Council be co-opted onto the negotiating teams.

The council's role, they claimed, was central to the issue, pointing with justification to the fact that it was the magnanimity of the council which facilitated the foundation of BLE in the first instance.

This point was conceded by the top table but in turn, Brendan Foreman, Padraig Griffin, Dermot Nagle and Chris Wall exhorted them to leave the current negotiating framework intact.

"None of the parties involved are likely to be 100 per cent satisfied when the final deal emerges, but all of us are convinced that this is the only way forward," said Wall.

"This process should have nothing to do with history, but everything to do with the welfare of our athletes. None of us can afford to be stunted by ideological hang-ups at this time."

That was influential, but perhaps the most telling contributions came from two members of the Ulster Council itself, Peter Sinclair and Patsy McGonigle.

Sinclair, the immediate past president of the council and a former national 400 metres champion, pleaded that the interests of emerging athletes should take precedence over all other considerations.

"It's time we got rid of the `them and us' factor in Irish athletics," he said. "I want the athletes of my club (Banbridge AC) to know that they are members of an athletics club and nothing else."

Eventually, the amendment was withdrawn on the undertaking that the Ulster Sports Council would be kept informed of the progress of the talks, step by step, in the coming months.

The new spirit of togetherness, further demonstrated by the attendance of the presidents of the NACA and NIAF at a function hosted by BLE later in the day, augurs well for a final settlement of the rift which has sundered Irish athletics for more than 60 years.

Further meetings of representatives of the three bodies are planned for the coming months and BLE hope to present a document for approval by their members at a special congress, likely to be called for September.

The NIAF, who made a significant gesture of appeasement last week by the introduction of new legislation which effectively opens the way for dual Ireland and Northern Ireland status for their athletes, are likewise engaged in putting the finishing touches to a submission for ratification by members.

Almost certainly, the biggest leap in faith in the unification process has to be taken by the NACA. Yet their contribution to the talks is acknowledged on all sides as statesmanlike and it is expected that they will have completed a document in time for ratification at their annual congress in October.

It was, overall, an historic congress, not least in the adoption of the Deloitte and Touche management consultancy recommendations, designed to take the sport into a new professional era.

Apart from an amendment which means that BLOE, the juvenile wing of the structure, will retain its present financial status, the report was adopted in principle. In the event of a new, unified administrative structure emerging, further talks may be necessary on this point.

Among other things, the report provides for the appointment of an executive director. Additionally, membership of the executive committee will be reduced from 22 to 14, a move designed to streamline the decision-making process.