The first steps towards opening Croke Park to other sports could be taken next Saturday when the GAA's Central Council will decide whether to hold a national referendum on the matter among every club in the country.

The latest development comes as a result of a Roscommon motion which was passed at their County Convention last year. It was not discussed at the GAA Congress in April, but was instead referred to the Central Council for consideration. It is now set to come before the Central Council next Saturday and, if passed, will require every club in the country to discuss Rule 42, which regulates the use of Croke Park.

That would leave club delegates formally mandated when it came to discussing the matter at County Conventions. They, in turn, would instruct Congress delegates how to vote if, as expected, a motion on easing the restrictions on the use of Croke Park is on the agenda next April. The national referendum idea was devised by the Kilmore club in Roscommon and is based on a similar concept which was used in 1971 to deal conclusively with the controversial Rule 27 - the infamous 'Ban' which prevented GAA members from having any association with 'foreign' sports.

Clubs discussed the rule and passed their decisions on to County Boards which, in turn, were mandated for Congress. It meant that the entire Association had taken a democratic decision on the matter, so that when it eventually came before Congress that year, very little discussion was required before Rule 27 was consigned to history. Kilmore's Tommy Kenoy believes that if the national referendum on Croke Park goes ahead, there will be overwhelming support to ease the restrictions on the use of Croke Park for other sports.

"This is a sensible way to proceed," he said yesterday. "There have been debates on the Croke Park issue before without all delegates being fully mandated. "It's not appropriate to leave such an important matter to the judgement of a few. By discussing it at club level, every GAA member will have an input, which is the democratic way of approaching it. "I have no doubt that if the clubs are all given their say, they will support opening up Croke Park in controlled circumstances," added Kenoy. Of course, it's by no means certain that the Central Council - regarded as a conservative body - will agree to hold a national referendum.

However, they will find it hard to ignore the apparent logic of the proposal which is likely to have the support of GAA President Sean Kelly, who backs the idea of opening up Croke Park to other sports.