ULSTER GAA is saying 'yes' to helping loyalist paramilitaries move away from violence by demonstrating its capabilities in building stable communities, according to the man regarded as the most influential in the province.

Danny Murphy, the secretary of the Ulster Council, says the organisation "would not be found wanting" and is prepared to play a full part in helping contribute to the development of a Northern Ireland that reflects diversity rather than demanding dilution of difference.

He stresses that the organisation is prepared to have its expertise in community and social development used as part of a template to directly help organisations such as the Ulster Defence Association find a new direction.

But it is the commitment of the GAA towards helping an organisation at the opposite end of the cultural, economic and political spectrum that will inevitably spark the strongest response. Earlier this month the Ulster Political Research Group, which acts as the political voice of the UDA, admitted that it required help from both the wider unionist community and also from the nationalist communities, if it was to achieve a totally political resolution to the problems confronting loyalism.

In response to that plea for help and support, Murphy says that his organisation would not fail to respond. He says that if representatives of militant loyalism were sincerely committed to the "reality and responsibility" of peace and social cohesion then the GAA would be prepared to discuss all options on a face-to-face basis. According to Murphy, the GAA can show it is willing to hold out the hand of friendship, especially to those that once revelled in rejecting it. He cites the historic meeting between Bertie Ahern and Ian Paisley as the perfect example of a partnership of co-operation based on mutual respect without conviction being sacrificed.

"I was very struck, and very pleased if I am honest, about the way that Dr Paisley referred to his joint Ulster and Irish heritage. In doing so he was following in the footsteps of his political hero, Edward Carson, who also never rejected his Irish identity. Carson was also a contemporary of Michael Cusack and also played, I understand, hurling while at Trinity College.

"Like so many things in Irish life, there are parallels that can be traced throughout our history. The only difference in Dr Paisley's juxtaposition of heritage is that he placed being an Ulsterman before his Irishness. For most of us in the GAA, it would be the other way around."

The content and the timing of the comments are certain to be viewed by both the Irish and British governments as providing significant support for the Northern Ireland peace process. However, his words also constitute a significant moral challenge to the incoming Stormont Executive. That challenge is based on the GAA's sense of frustration in having its role as a provider of community cohesion taken for granted while at the same time the British government continues to exclude Gaelic Games completely from the state school physical education system.

That fact is seen by many in Ulster as being a major contributory factor in feeding the perception that the association is designed to only meet the sports and cultural requirements of the Catholic community. However, Murphy says the association is prepared to work through those issues "in a constructive and helpful way". The same realistic approach, according to Murphy, will be applied to any section of the North's community that feels it can learn from tapping into the community-based talents of the GAA.

"We have continually stressed that as an organisation, collectively and individually, we want the hand of friendship to be accepted, " says Murphy. "We have no backdoor motives for this approach. Like everybody else on this island we just want a better future for everyone."

Murphy has spelt out in precise terms the way the GAA sees its role at a defining time in the history of Ireland, north and south. It is the first time that the association has articulated in such clear and unequivocal language its desire to be part of a process of conciliation and reconciliation. But he wants nothing to be lost in terms of translating the words of his message. "A couple of months ago our president Nickey Brennan made a call for more Protestants in Northern Ireland to become involved in the association, " he says.

"The response from sections of the media treated those comments as something controversial. The fact was that the president was merely emphasising the need to continually hold out the hand of friendship as widely as possible.

"The opening up of Croke Park showed that we can act as good neighbours without any diminution of our strength of conviction about our games or, indeed, our Irish identity. As a sporting and cultural organisation we are in the business of expanding our association by ensuring that anyone seeking knowledge of our guiding principles and idealism are assisted to the best of our ability.

"The fact that the Police Service of Northern Ireland now has a thriving gaelic football team is just another example of that process of expansion and acceptance. The PSNI team is another part of the community identification process for the wider society in the North and it is one that we in the Ulster Council welcome.

Our record in providing facilities, sporting and cultural outlets, at all levels of the community, is one that can match anything in the world. We want to be in a position to share that expertise for the greater good of all."

Murphy's message might be hard for some members of the GAA in Ulster to accept. In particular the generosity of the message being delivered to certain elements of Northern Irish society that up to a few short years ago would have been viewed as sworn enemies of all things linked to the association.

"The GAA will not be found wanting in being prepared to extend the hand of friendship, " he adds. "We are a non-party political and non-sectarian organisation. Despite the negative portrayal of the GAA that suits certain bigoted elements of society in the North we do not seek to coerce or threaten any section of the community by our involvement."

"We do not ask the social, ethnic or religious background of any individual that wants to learn about, or become involved with our organisation in any way, formally or informally, directly or indirectly. The GAA does not want to see anybody having to reject their ethnic, religious or political principles. There is a great deal of loosely constructed talk about what is described as a shared vision, a shared future in Northern Ireland and throughout Ireland as a whole. In theory it sounds fine.

"But what does that really mean? I certainly don't want to exist in a society where all its ingredients are odourless, colourless and lacking the real flavours that diversity brings.

When that happens all we can look forward to is ending up with some form of tasteless and shapeless Blancmange. We can all retain our core values, our sense of identity, while at the same time working in a spirit of co-operation for the common good."

Following the return of devolved administrative power to Stormont, the Ulster Secretary has made it clear that certain attitudes that once prevailed must change. The days of the association having its views shelved at the whim of civil servants will no longer be accepted, according to Murphy. "The GAA has a huge wealth of expertise in the building and development of community-based initiatives.

We have a significant pool of talented individuals that can contribute in a unique way to the betterment of society in Ulster.

"As an organisation we are very proud of our party political independence. That was shown in the terrible aftermath of the Civil War in Ireland when the GAA helped eventually bridge the chasm that existed between communities at all levels of that conflict.

"The GAA has the potential to deliver that same sense of purpose to the debate surrounding the North's political arrangements.

But equally importantly, the new social frameworks that will inevitably evolve as a result of what we all hope will be sustained progress on all fronts in Northern Ireland have to be nurtured and supported. No one grouping can be excluded on the basis of its perceived historical agenda, " he says.

One of the issues which continues to be a subject of frustration for the GAA in Ulster is the continued lack of real response from the state school sector when it comes to becoming involved with gaelic games as part of the educational curriculum. That imbalance in providing access to all forms of sports experience is in stark contrast to the continued inroads being made by soccer and rugby across all levels of the schools sector in Northern Ireland. But Murphy admits that when it comes to the GAA being welcomed into the state school sector, its games continue to suffer rejection from the impact of a rigidly enforced form of sporting apartheid.

The Ulster Secretary is careful in his choice of language to describe how the GAA intends to address the situation. "These are matters that we have already discussed at length with various Northern Ireland office ministers.

We have the expertise that can be provided by a superb network of fully-qualified coaches.

"Of course it is a matter of great regret that at present those coaches have not been invited or encouraged to work within the state schools. The fundamentals of our coaching programmes, while they are obviously generally tailored to meet the requirements of our own sports, could be used very effectively in the wider sports and health development remit of any sporting or educational institution.

"We as an organisation would welcome an open and honest debate once Stormont is up and running after 8 May on all the related issues surrounding the expansion of gaelic games into the broader physical education curriculum. As part of that wider debate, however, the viewpoint of the GAA is clear. It is that if we can have health-conscious individuals developed mentally and physically from an early age then we can be reasonably confident that we will see the benefits of a healthy society develop in tandem.

"At a time when our young people are being put under all sorts of external pressures the option of being able to help with the provision of a healthier lifestyle, as espoused by the GAA, is surely something that everybody would want to buy into."

Danny Murphy is a man who has always considered his words carefully. He also knows that if Ian Paisley and Bertie Ahern can shake each other's hand in respect, Ulstermen can and must do the same.