Madam, - May I make some observations following the momentous decision of the GAA Congress at the weekend?
Imagine the positive impact on our unionist fellow Irishman attending a rugby international in such a magnificent sports theatre.
There is only now one ban left in Irish sport - the social ban against our national games adhered to by our fee-paying rugby colleges.
As a former hurler, I feel deeply proud of those who took the generous-spirited but difficult decision on Croke Park. As Minister for Sport in 1971, I applauded the courageous decision to abolish Rule 21 at the Easter Congress in Belfast - what an appropriate season and setting.
In these days of professionalism in other sports let us now generously recognise the true sportsmanship and example of the world's greatest amateur sporting organisation. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL O'KENNEDY, The Sweepstakes, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Compliments to Tom Humphries for his excellent and measured articles on Rule 42. Such subjects evoke all manner of reflexive responses but his pieces in recent weeks have been thought-provoking and insightful. Historians seeking to interpret the significance of the decision and the context in which the members of congress reached their conclusion will have no shortage of material to sift through but little will compare in quality to Mr Humphries's analysis. - Yours, etc.,
EAMON KEATING, Lavarna Grove, Terenure, Dublin 6W.