The Omagh St Enda's club has tabled a motion for Sunday's Tyrone county convention which proposes that GAA grounds be used for other sports events provided that they are being staged for charitable purposes.

The motion arises out of a plan by the club to stage a fundraising soccer match at the Healy Park ground in the town to raise funds for the victims of the Omagh bombing. At the time the Tyrone county board refused to sanction the event because of a rule in the GAA rule book which forbids the playing of games such as soccer, rugby or cricket on GAA grounds. The rule has been a bone of contention for many years and several efforts to delete the rule have been foiled.

St Enda's pleaded that there was no other sports ground in the vicinity which could cope with the crowd which might attend, but the officials of the Tyrone county board, presumably supported by Croke Park, refused to give permission for the proposed soccer match. It had been hoped that players from Manchester United, Liverpool, Celtic and Rangers would agree to play in the match.

Rule 42 of the GAA states that GAA property "shall be used only for the purpose of, or in connection with, the playing of games controlled by the association and for such other purposes not in conflict with the aims and objects of the association that may be sanctioned from time to time by the Central Council".

This has always been interpreted to mean that GAA grounds are forbidden to soccer, rugby and other "foreign games" which is a throwback to other times, but still adhered to by very influential people within the GAA.

The St Enda's notice of motion for Sunday's county convention proposes that Rule 42 be amended by the addition of the words: "In exceptional circumstances, when it is clear that the purpose is for fundraising for a charitable cause, Central Council may permit the use of GAA grounds for the playing of any game."

There is a certain amount of skill in the wording of the motion in that it leaves control of the situation in the hands of the Central Council, normally regarded as the most conservative body within the GAA and the one which has overall power. Its policies can only be altered by the annual congress.

Local opinion, however, suggests that the motion will not be passed. Although there was considerable sympathy for the idea in the days after the bombing, the response by the GAA in general to the fundraising campaign has been such that many feel that the association has been more than generous. The announcement this week that a match in Lansdowne Road in May between the Republic and Northern Ireland has also been arranged has further reduced the pressure on soccer people to make a contribution. In addition, the rule which was used to foil the idea can only be altered at annual congress next spring by which time the fundraising efforts will probably have lost momentum.

The secretary of the Tyrone county board, Dominic McCaughey, last night confirmed that the motion would be put to Sunday's meeting and the hope would be that it would be allowed to go to the annual GAA convention at Easter so that all clubs could have their say. "I believe that we all have a right to discuss matters of this kind and that decisions like this are teased out in the most positive way in the most democratic manner available to us, which is annual Congress. I hope that the motion will be passed and that this will give all of us an opportunity to express our views," he said.