A LOCAL GAA club has written to the Fermanagh County Board calling on them to follow the lead of more than 3,000 Antrim Gaels who signed a letter sent to Taoiseach Micheál Martin to take the lead in planning discussions for an agreed Shared Ireland.

Some of Antrim’s biggest names in GAA were part of the 3,123-strong signatories that called for the establishment of an All-Island Citizens Assembly that would reflect “the views of citizens, North and South, to achieve maximum consensus on a way forward”.

The letter read: “It is the responsibility of the Irish government to ensure that the democratic rights of all citizens are respected and protected, regardless of where they live on the island.

“We want the Irish government to take the lead in planning these discussions and planning for the future.”

Now, Belcoo O’Rahilly’s has called on the county board to compose a similar letter and “disseminate it through the county to allow clubs and their communities to co-sign their support” before publishing and delivering it to the Irish government.

The club said it was getting in contact with the County Committee and other clubs in Fermanagh as it believes “the GAA in Fermanagh is specially placed to start this conversation within our communities here”.

Dominic Kerrigan, Chairman of the Belcoo O’Rahilly’s, said: “It’s an opportunity for the GAA to lead by example and try and get a discussion started about a Shared Ireland.

“It is pretty evident it is going to happen very shortly, so I think we do need to be calling on all bodies to open discussions and talk and see what we need to do to get the ball rolling on it.

“It is going to be for the betterment of the country, and we need to be having these discussions and calling on leaders on both sides to have these discussions and start paving the way for a future we all can live in.”

The Fermanagh County Board, when contacted, did not say whether it was considering taking any action regarding the letter, with Chairperson Greg Kelly saying: “The Antrim letter was from individual members of the GAA, not the Antrim County Board.

“Individual GAA members are entitled to a political opinion, as any citizen is, so that’s the way we’ll leave this issue.”