GAA president Nickey Brennan yesterday hinted that Croke Park may remain available for rugby and soccer internationals after Lansdowne Road re-opens in 2010.

"I don't want to prejudge anything but, it's fair to say, that the arrangement (with the IRFU and FAI) has gone extremely well from a logistical and sporting point of view," he said.

Reacting to yesterday's revelation in the Irish Independent that Clare will be putting a motion before Congress in April calling for a retention of the current position which allows rugby and soccer to be played in Croke Park, he said he had been expecting the move.

"As the person sitting in the chair who will have to steer motions at Congress, I'm obviously not getting into any particular one, but I always expected that something like this would find its way onto the agenda," he said. "It will be debated in the same way as everything else. We are

happy to see motions coming from whatever sources in the GAA. Let people make their arguments on the floor of Congress."

He acknowledged the GAA were happy with the manner in which their deal with the IRFU and FAI on Croke Park had worked out in the past few years.

The GAA changed its rule on the use of Croke Park in 2005 but stipulated that the ban on other sports would be re-imposed once Lansdowne Road re-opened after redevelopment in 2010.

However, Clare’s proposal, if passed, would allow Croke Park to remain available for rent which yields €1.35 million per game for the GAA.