Residents in the areas surrounding Croke Park have registered their total opposition to the playing of other sports at the ground. The Croke Park Area Residents' Alliance (an umbrella organisation of over 16 tenant and residents' associations) made this clear in a statement released yesterday.

Reacting to what it sees as the growing number of public calls for Croke Park to be opened up, the statement ran: "The Alliance would like to take this opportunity to voice our complete and total opposition to any such move, and will assertively resist any further disruption to the quality of life of local residents and tenants emerging from the activities at Croke Park."

Already concerned by the number of extra matches scheduled for the summer on account of the changes to the football championship, the Alliance also referred to plans for three concerts.

"Unless one lives in this area it is hard to perceive the incredible disruption these events cause to the lives of locals, with people urinating and vomiting in our gardens, the constant knocking and tapping on doors and peering through the windows of terraced houses, which is deeply uncomfortable and possibly an infringement to our right to privacy."

In reference to the anticipated debate at this year's GAA annual congress, the residents went on to warn that they would not become involved in the issue of Rule 42 (forbidding other sports from being played on GAA grounds).

"Further, the Alliance will not allow locals to become patsies for the cultural purists or victims of the cultural pluralists in the national debate."

The legal situation is not entirely clear, with some residents believing that the GAA is not entitled to hold non-GAA events in Croke Park under the terms of their planning permission. The GAA authorities are, on the other hand, confident that the established use of Croke Park over the best part of 100 years has been for football and hurling matches and that the planning authorities wouldn't create distinctions between the type of football played there.

Even allowing for that, Croke Park is hardly likely to want a major public protest on the matter in the lead-up to what is likely to be a very fraught debate on the deletion of the rule.