Senior French army officers from the battalion, which is based in Britanny, have contacted the GAA and sought details about gaelic football competitions organised by the GAA's Europe 'county board'.

They hope to enter a team to play against rival sides in Paris and around the Britanny region.

The officers see Gaelic football as "good robust and hardy training for their men, and it looks like good fun", according to the secretary of the GAA's European board, Tony Bass.

The French army side is expected to take part in several GAA tournaments once they get fully established from April onwards and are likely to be established as a fully registered GAA club to take part in championship games soon afterwards, Bass said.

However, the French army team will not be the first team to play in Europe comprising of all non-Irish players. There is already a Gaelic football team playing in Barcelona which consists of all Catalan members, Bass told the Sunday Tribune.

Considerable effort has been made by the European GAA board to develop the games among non-Irish players in the past year. The current European hurling champions are Zurich, half the members of which are Swiss nationals who began playing the game in their own country. Gaelic football is particularly strong in France. The reigning Gaelic football champions are Paris Gaels and there is currently a series of strong GAA clubs in Britanny, including teams for children.

Over 1,000 players, a large number of whom are nonIrish members, are now registered to take part in GAA competition in the region, covering 25 separate countries.

The games are played at 11-aside on rugby pitches due to the lack of GAA pitches in Continental Europe. The French army team is the latest in a number of different groups across Europe who have expressed an interest in setting up a GAA team to take part in the rapidly expanding GAA European board competitions.

"The interest in teams getting started and playing in GAA competition all across Europe has really taken off recently here. The Zurich hurlers are preparing to begin their training for the 2006 championship and because the snow is on the ground they are planning to use an orange sliothar, " Tony Bass said.

The GAA's European board is also hoping to have under14 players from Switzerland and Spain taking part in next year's Feile na nGael competition, including both boys' and girls' Gaelic football teams. Such is the increased interest and the increasing number of GAA teams taking part in the GAA European board area, the body has broken the region into four areas.

The GAA's European wing is presently on the same status as a county board, despite the fact that it's 456m population is somewhat larger than, for instance, Leitrim, which has a population of around 25,700.