One of the things that traditionally makes the GAA great is the sight at even the biggest games of fans mixing freely before during and after matches – you may in theory have separate blocks of the stadium, but the reality is that all are welcome in the mix.

Compare that with soccer – particularly in the UK – were rival fans have to travel on separate trains, they’re kept apart by policemen on horseback, they aren’t allowed into the same pubs and visiting fans are normally detained at the venue for half an hour after games to allow the home fans to disperse without any aggro.

That’s why last week’s request from the Dr Crokes club in Killarney to the GAA to segregate supporters on safety grounds at their upcoming All-Ireland senior semi-final against Crossmaglen Rangers at Portlaoise is such a sorry day.

It’s not Crokes’ fault because they clearly feel there is a threat to their fans and panel members – and history is on their side to prove it – but it represents the thin end of the wedge that would ultimately destroy one of the great attributes of the GAA.

Of course this is an isolated incident and safety must come first, but anyone who has experienced the joy of an All-Ireland Final, the walk up Jones Road, the pint in Drumcondra and the magnanimity afterwards of fans from the defeated county will worry at this threat to one of Ireland’s most endearing qualities.

In fairness, the same can equally be said of rugby where fans mingle all weekend long and there is never a hint of trouble – the Leinster fans who descended in droves on Galway last New Year’s Day were a credit to their team and their province and they provided an unexpected mini windfall for the city’s publicans in the process.

Irish fans have been made welcome in Edinburgh or Cardiff – and even Paris or London although the sheer scales of those cities dilutes the effect – and we in turn have enjoyed great occasions when they come here to us.

The Heineken Cup has brought that out of the capital cities into the rest of the country, and that, in many ways, is the lasting memory of Connacht’s recent odyssey.

But the atmosphere in Cardiff can be very different when it’s soccer teams involved – even for as meaningless a match as the Community Shield curtain raiser that barely raises a flicker of expectation among the competing clubs.

While Wembley was closed for rebuilding, Cardiff was the venue for this annual clash and I travelled there one August for a clash between Chelsea and Liverpool (in the days when Liverpool qualified for events like this).

As a Liverpool fan travelling with Chelsea supporters, I wasn’t stupid enough to wear my colours outwardly – but equally I wasn’t wearing blue.

In the pubs beforehand, Liverpool fans were welcome in the city centre and Chelsea fans were to the other side of the ground – and if you weren’t wearing your team’s colours, you had to show your match ticket to prove you weren’t an opposition fan with a death wish going into a rival pub to take on a thousand all-comers.

That never happens with GAA because inter-county rivalry stays inside the ground and, even then, rarely does amount to anything more than sharp wit or the occasion flying insult. The final whistle is invariably greeted with a handshake of congratulations and slap on the back.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.