View source for Rule 21

{{Short description|Former Gaelic Athletic Association rule banning members of the British security forces}}
{{for|United States Senate Rule 21|Closed sessions of the United States Senate}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Rule 21''' of the [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] (GAA) was a rule in force from 1897 to 2001 which banned members of the British [[security forces]] from membership of the GAA and thus from playing [[Gaelic games]]. The affected organisations included the [[British Armed Forces]] and the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), and prior to [[Partition of Ireland|partition]], the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) and [[Dublin Metropolitan Police]]. As well as the RUC in [[Northern Ireland]], it also applied to [[UK police|police forces in Great Britain]], which affected [[London GAA]] and the other [[British GAA]] affiliates.
Rule 21 stated:<ref name="ind26068246"/><ref name="ind29925280"/>
:Members of the British armed forces or police shall not be eligible for membership of the Association.
:A member of the Association participating in dances, or similar entertainment, promoted by or under the patronage of such bodies, shall incur suspension of at least three months.
The rule was abolished after the establishment of the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] (PSNI) as part of the [[Northern Ireland peace process]].
==Origin==
Rule 21 was introduced in 1897 and reflected the rise of "advanced nationalism", with the GAA and other [[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist]] organisations founded in the [[Gaelic revival]] becoming more politicised and [[separatism|separatist]] in the build-up to the [[Irish revolutionary period|revolutionary period]].<ref name="irishecho2011">{{cite news|url=http://irishecho.com/2011/02/gaa-delegates-vote-to-allow-cops-soldiers-3/|title=GAA delegates vote to allow cops, soldiers|last=Bushe|first=Andrew|date=16 February 2011|work=[[Irish Echo]]|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="crokepark">{{cite web|url=https://www.crokepark.ie/gaa-museum/gaa-archive/gaa-museum-irish-times-articles/the-removal-of-douglas-hyde-as-patron-of-the-assoc|title=Articles on the history of the GAA > The Removal of Douglas Hyde as Patron of the Association, 1938|work=Library & Archive|publisher=[[GAA Museum]]|access-date=25 August 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905172855/http://www.crokepark.ie/gaa-museum/gaa-archive/gaa-museum-irish-times-articles/the-removal-of-douglas-hyde-as-patron-of-the-assoc|archive-date=5 September 2015}}</ref> It was intended to allay fears that RIC members were joining GAA clubs to spy on members' political activities.<ref name="irishecho2011"/> It was overshadowed by the introduction in 1901 of [[Rule 27]], commonly called "The Ban", which prohibited GAA members from playing "foreign games" like [[soccer]] and [[rugby union]].<ref name="crokepark" /><ref name="Sweeney2012"/><ref name="Nauright2012"/> In 1938 [[Douglas Hyde]], recently inaugurated as first [[President of Ireland]], was removed as Patron of the GAA after attending an [[Ireland national football team (FAI) results|Irish soccer international]].<ref name="crokepark" /> After Rule 27 was abolished in 1971, it was Rule 21 and [[Rule 42]], which prohibited foreign games being played at GAA grounds, which were the focus of debate.<ref name="Sweeney2012">{{cite book|last=Sweeney|first=Eamonn|title=O'Brien Pocket History of Gaelic Sport|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWWNAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT11|access-date=25 August 2015|date=2012-10-04|publisher=O'Brien Press|isbn=9781847175212|pages=11–13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crokepark.ie/getmedia/7ce8a2b2-5059-47c9-9182-eaaf4ebd2163/senior-winner-shane-finegan.pdf |title=The role played by Tom Woulfe in the campaign (1959–1971) to remove the Ban on Foreign Games (Rule 27) from the rulebook of the GAA |last=Finegan |first=Shane |date=27 May 2011 |work=Winners of Secondary School Essay Competition |publisher=GAA |access-date=25 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923211343/http://www.crokepark.ie/getmedia/7ce8a2b2-5059-47c9-9182-eaaf4ebd2163/Senior-Winner-Shane-Finegan.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 }}</ref>
==Northern Ireland==
After the 1922 creation of the [[Irish Free State]], Rule 21 continued to apply in Northern Ireland. Its strongest supporters were [[Physical force Irish republicanism|physical force republican]]s, and during [[the Troubles]] the GAA was suspected by many [[Irish unionism|unionists]] of collusion with the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] and other paramilitaries.<ref name="cronin1999" /><ref name="Nauright2012">{{cite book|last=Nauright|first=John|title=Sports around the World: History, Culture, and Practice|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mYBtMajLAaAC&pg=RA1-PA91|access-date=25 August 2015|date=2012-04-06|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781598843019|pages=91–92|chapter=Gaelic Athletic Association}}</ref> While some advocates of Rule 21 were opposed to any engagement with  "[[Crown forces]]", others linked it to alleged targeting by the security forces of the GAA, in particular the occupation of part of [[Crossmaglen Rangers GAC|Crossmaglen Rangers]]' grounds by a British Army base, which disrupted matches and other events there.<ref name="Hassan2005">{{cite journal|last=Hassan|first=D.|year=2005|title=The Gaelic Athletic Association, Rule 21, and Police Reform in Northern Ireland|journal=Journal of Sport & Social Issues|volume=29|issue=1|pages=60–78|issn=0193-7235|doi=10.1177/0193723504268731|s2cid=144126822 }}</ref> One player affected by the ban was  [[Brian McCargo]] from [[Ardoyne]], who played for [[Antrim GAA|Antrim county team]] before being obliged to quit in 1969 after joining the RUC [[Reserve Police Officers|Reserve]], during a period after the abolition of the [[B Specials]] when some Catholic community leaders were encouraging Catholics to join the revised force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1634688.stm|title=No regrets as a Catholic in the RUC |date=21 December 2001 |work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> Sean McNulty from [[Warrenpoint]] won an [[All-Ireland Minor Football Championship|All-Ireland minor]] medal in 1977 but joined the RUC in 1982.<ref name="it337706"/> The [[Sports Council for Northern Ireland]] and Northern Ireland [[Department of Education (Northern Ireland)|Department of Education]] made funding grants to GAA bodies while Rule 21 was in force, but at a lower level than would otherwise have been the case.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/csc/reports/sugdenharvie/sugdenharvie95-1.htm|title=Sport and Community Relations in Northern Ireland|last=Sugden|first=John |author2=Scott Harvie|year=1995|publisher=CAIN|pages=1.5.2 – Gaelic Sport|quote=Official funding for the GAA has been forthcoming through the Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DENI) and the Sports Council for Northern Ireland but has been limited by the continued existence of Rule 21 which excludes members of Northern Ireland’s security forces from joining.(24) This rule means that Gaelic organisations are treated by the government as clubs with restricted membership. As such they are only entitled to between 50% and 33.5% grant aid towards the cost of facilities development.|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>
==Abolition==
During the [[Northern Ireland peace process]], abolishing Rule 21 was advocated by unionists, political leaders in the [[Republic of Ireland|Republic]], and the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, whose report led to the replacement of the RUC by the PSNI.<ref name="cronin1999">{{cite journal |journal=Jouvert: A Journal of Postcolonial Studies |publisher=College of the Humanities and Social Sciences |location=North Carolina State University |volume=4 |issue=1: Ireland 2000 |url=http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/jouvert/v4i1/cron.htm|title=Ignoring Postcolonialism: The Gaelic Athletic Association and the Language of Colony |last=Cronin |first=Mike |date=Fall 1999|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/police/patten/chapter15.pdf#page=1 |title=Recruitment |author=Independent Commission On Policing For Northern Ireland |format=PDF |date=9 September 1999 |work=A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland - The Report of the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland |page=89; §15.2 |access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> This was for two reasons: to boost nationalist trust of the police, and to improve unionist trust of the GAA. Nationalists were underrepresented in the RUC, contributing to a self-sustaining cycle of mistrust of it as unionist-biased; on the other hand, unionists saw Rule 21 as evidence of the GAA's support for republican violence. If the GAA ended its prohibition on membership, a reformed police force would be more likely to attract nationalist recruits. The prospect of unionist police officers joining the GAA was not a major consideration.<ref name="it337706">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/support-divided-as-gaa-consider-lifting-controversial-rule-21-ban-1.337706|title=Support divided as GAA consider lifting controversial rule 21 ban|date=17 November 2001|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|quote=few seriously believe British soldiers or members of Northern Ireland's brand new police service will be queuing up outside GAA clubs after the weekend|access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>
Motions at the GAA congress to change a given rule can only be raised once every three years and require a two-thirds majority of delegates.<ref name="it19065">{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/central-council-hold-key-to-new-rule-21-debate-1.19065|title=Central Council hold key to new Rule 21 debate|last=Moran|first=Sean|date=4 January 1996|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> Motion 43 submitted to the 1995 annual congress proposed to remove Rule 21, but was withdrawn before any debate.<ref name="it19065"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/archives/2015/0407/692491-will-rule-21-be-debated-at-gaa-congress/|title=Will Rule 21 Be Debated at GAA Congress?|year=1995|work=RTÉ Archives|publisher=RTÉ|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>  As a compromise for withdrawing motion 43, congress agreed that a special congress could be called in future purely to vote on Rule 21.<ref name="it19065"/> Such a congress was held in the [[Burlington Hotel (Dublin)|Burlington Hotel]] on 30 May 1998, shortly after the [[Good Friday Agreement]].<ref name="cain30598">{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch98.htm#30598|title=1998|work=Chronology of the Conflict|publisher=[[CAIN]]|pages=Saturday 30 May 1998|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> After a debate closed to the public, it rejected immediate abolition due to strong opposition from the [[Ulster GAA|Ulster Council]], but resolved to remove it "when effective steps are taken to implement amended structures and policing arrangements envisaged in the British/Irish peace agreement".<ref name="cronin1999"/><ref name="cain30598"/><ref name="ind29925280">{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gaas-rule-21-november-17-2001-29925280.html|title=GAA's Rule 21: November 17, 2001|date=18 January 2014|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="ind26068246"/> Another special congress in [[Citywest]] abolished it, on 17 November 2001, two weeks after the PSNI was established.<ref name="ind26068246"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch01.htm#041101|title=Chronology of the Conflict 2001|work=CAIN|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>  [[Seán McCague]], the [[List of Presidents of the Gaelic Athletic Association|GAA president]], was personally in favour and all delegates from the Republic supported abolition; although only [[Down GAA]] of the six Northern Ireland counties voted in favour, the Ulster delegates felt the establishment of the PSNI had sufficiently altered the situation not to make more than a token objection.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gaa-set-to-decommission-rule-21-26072633.html|title=GAA set to decommission Rule 21|last=Foley|first=Cliona|date=30 October 2001|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref><ref name="ind26068246">{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/rule-21-goes-quietly-into-history-books-26068246.html|title=Rule 21 goes quietly into history books|last=Breheny|first=Martin|date=19 November 2001|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>  A poll of Northern nationalists found that 57% supported abolition, with 25% opposed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/gaa-faces-north-south-battle-on-move-to-drop-security-forces-ban-1.157179|title=GAA faces North-South battle on move to drop security forces ban|date=27 May 1998|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>
The British Universities GAA joined the [[British Universities Sports Association]] in February 2002; its application had been rejected five times before the abolition of Rule 21.<ref name="DarbyHassan2013">{{cite book|last1=Darby|first1=Paul|last2=Hassan|first2=David|title=Emigrant Players: Sport and the Irish Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bb6MAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA87|access-date=26 August 2015|date=2013-10-18|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317968450|page=87}}</ref> A [[PSNI GAA]] club was founded in 2002 and since that year has played an annual [[Gaelic football]] match against the [[Garda GAA]] for the  [[Thomas St George McCarthy]] Cup, called after an RIC officer who was a founder member of the GAA in 1884.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/gaa/psni-lined-up-for-historic-croker-date-with-garda-28681735.html|title=PSNI lined up for historic Croker date with Garda|date=9 November 2009|work=[[Belfast Telegraph]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> After [[murder of Ronan Kerr|Ronan Kerr was killed]] in 2011 by [[dissident republican]]s, his [[Beragh Red Knights GAA]] teammates bore his coffin before passing it to his PSNI colleagues.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/symbolism-potent-as-local-gaa-club-members-pass-coffin-to-police-officers-1.565198|title=Symbolism potent as local GAA club members pass coffin to police officers|last=Moriarty|first=Gerry|date=7 April 2011|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> In 2015, the British army regiment, the [[Irish Guards]] formed [[Irish Guards GAA]] to take part in London junior championships.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-34261048 | title=GAA accepts first British Army team| work=BBC News| date=2015-09-15}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Gaelic Athletic Association}}
[[Category:1897 establishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:2001 disestablishments in Ireland]]
[[Category:Gaelic Athletic Association terminology]]
[[Category:Gaelic games culture|21]]
[[Category:Gaelic games controversies]]
[[Category:History of the Gaelic Athletic Association]]
[[Category:Politics and sports]]
[[Category:Law enforcement in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Military sport in the United Kingdom]]