Ireland's GAA votes to open up Croke Park
DUBLIN, April 16 (Reuters) - Ireland's Gaelic Athletics Association (GAA), which oversees traditional games such as hurling, camogie and Gaelic football, voted on Saturday to open its national stadium to the likes of soccer and rugby.
In an historic move, the nationalist and conservative GAA agreed for the first time in its 120-year history to allow "foreign sports" to be played at Croke Park in Dublin.
The GAA had repeatedly rejected moves to scrap, or even discuss, Rule 42, which stipulates that only sports governed by the GAA can be played in the stadium.
But the issue has become more pressing since Lansdowne Road, headquarters of Irish rugby and home to the national soccer team, is about to close for a two-year refurbishment.
Without access to the GAA's 80,000-seater stadium, fans were worried Ireland's soccer and rugby teams would have to play their home matches abroad for the next few years.
The annual congress of the GAA voted to open up Croke Park by 227 to 97 votes.
The GAA was founded in 1884 to revive and nurture traditional, indigenous pastimes in Ireland which was then part of the United Kingdom.
Although still hugely popular in Ireland, the GAA, whose sportsmen and women are unpaid, competes for attention with cash-rich games such as soccer and rugby that dominate sports coverage on television.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
After intense campaigning during the week, yesterday at GAA Congress delegates voted to open Croke Park to Soccer and Rugby by 227 votes to 97. The stadium which can seat 82,500, is by far Ireland's largest and indeed one of the largest in Europe.

Traditionally soccer and rugby internationals had been played in the much smaller Landsdowne Road stadium, but due to redevelopment it seemed that all internationals would have to be played in the UK. However this situation has now been avoided with the vote by delegates to amend Rule 42 to allow soccer and rugby to be played at Croke Park during the redevelopment of Landsdowne Road. The works are expected to take three years to complete.

The international matches that can now be played in Dublin are expected to generate several million euros of revenue for the local economy.