The latest verdicts on the GAA's controversial Rule 21 are expected from the nine Ulster counties within the next 10 days. The GAA president Seβn McCague has been meeting Ulster representatives in recent weeks with a view to a possible deletion of the rule, which bans members of the RUC and British security forces from joining.

The ruling has once again been brought to the fore after the GAA's Central Council decided on Saturday to convene a special congress on the issue, set for a Dublin venue on November 17th. Deletion will require a two-thirds majority from county delegates.

According to Ulster council secretary John O'Reilly, the Ulster clubs are close to giving their verdicts and the process should be complete by the start of next week.

"There has been a lot of consultation going on, but it hasn't quite been completed yet," he said. "I expect it will be another nine or 10 days before all the clubs in Ulster will have decided on their verdict.

"And there hasn't been any feedback up to now beyond what was given to the president himself. But it's up to the clubs now to decide on it. Time will tell."

The GAA president offered a short statement after Saturday's meeting, saying that the process of consultation on the rule that began last August is almost completed.

"Central council felt that the time was right to discuss Rule 21," he said, "and it's up to the counties now to vote how they see fit."

The majority of the consultation took place in Ulster, where the emotional and yet mixed support for the rule has more or less dictated the GAA stance on the issue. McCague has held private talks with officials from all nine Ulster counties, and they have taken that consultative process to club level in order to canvas their opinions.

Derry is one of the counties traditionally opposed to abolishing the rule and a verdict from their clubs is expected tomorrow night. In the case of Donegal a decision is expected next Monday.

But the decision to call the special congress suggests support for scrapping the rule has gained new pace. Part of it has to do with the new police force, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which is due to come into operation next month, and the prospect of Catholics being excluded from the GAA because of joining that new force.

It will also be the first official debate on the issue since McCaugue's predecessor, John McDonagh, made a brave attempt to abolish the rule three years ago. At the annual Congress that April, McDonagh presented a motion to get rule 21 on the agenda, but a member of the Ulster counties rejected the proposal.

A special congress was set for six weeks later, where it became evident that the Ulster counties weren't ready for a move. But a compromise statement was released pledging the GAA intent to delete Rule 21 from it's official guide "when the effective steps are taken to implement the amended structures and policing arrangements envisaged in the British-Irish agreement".