GAELIC Park in the Bronx was packed on Sunday with over 2,500 supporters from Leitrim cheering their side on in the Connacht championship against New York. Those present said it was like old times at the venerable venue, where such crowds and indeed much larger numbers were no exception in the good old days.

Incredible to think that an All-Ireland final was played in New York in 1947 when Cavan played Kerry at the old Polo Grounds before 35,000 spectators. While we will never see the likes of that day again, the annual Connacht championship game in New York has become a welcome opportunity to see some of Ireland's finest teams.

The Leitrim natives who were there to cheer on their county football team did not go home disappointed as they ran out easy winners in a one sided contest. But the game was not the only centerpiece, as emigrants and temporary exiles mixed and met. Overall it was a remarkable weekend.

Up to 10 years ago Leitrim was Ireland's poorest county. The notion of almost one-tenth of its population flying to New York and spending a weekend supporting their side would have been a foolish dream. Last Sunday it came to pass.

For the residents of Woodlawn and Yonkers the Leitrim invasion could not have come at a better time. Reeling from the lack of legal immigration, and hanging on or dear life as a community, the bumper weekend was a reminder of the old days and what life could be like again if immigration reform happens.

The J-I students from Ireland who come here with four-month summer working visas will shortly be on their way. This will provide another boost to the Irish community in the North Bronx.

The GAA, of course, needs the lifeblood of the new arrivals more than ever. The disappointing performance of the New York side against Leitrim makes clear that the steady drip of players returning to Ireland has made it even more difficult for the team to compete at the highest level.

The effort to bring young American players through the ranks will certainly pay off in the long run, but in the short term the lack of emigration is having a crippling impact.

But better news may be on the way. There are clear hints that the American government is actively considering a 12 month J visa that will not require a job offer for Irish recipients.

While that will not help the undocumented here now, it would certainly have an impact on people who want to come and stay for a year and work legally. It would also give organizations such as the GAA a better pool of players to pick from.

There are also signs that some who moved back to Ireland are returning, finding the green, green grass of home not so enticing after all.

The various immigration centers are reporting a steady trickle of people coming back. The inevitable slowdown in the economy has led to far fewer jobs in the key areas of construction and housing generally.

But some things have changed fundamentally, whatever the ebb and flows of the Irish economy. When Leitrim, long seen as the poorest of the poor, with a population perched out on the western reaches of Ireland, can send a few thousand people to New York for an historic weekend, then we are in new territory.

The American Ireland Fund gala dinner at Lincoln Center in New York last week was a world removed from Leitrim in Gaelic Park, but in many ways the message was one of complete change also.

Actor Liam Neeson was the guest of honor, and an astonishing $650,000 of the $3.5 million raised came from supporters in Ireland, something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

The Ireland Fund too is looking beyond its

usual horizon. Kieran McLoughlin, president of the American Ireland Fund, says they are now also looking at groups in the U.S. who may need of their help.

This has already begun in Britain, where the Ireland Fund helps "The Forgotten Irish," a program for those emigrants who left Ireland in the fifties and sixties who need assistance.

It is a new dynamic era where the Irish at home have much to contribute and the assistance can flow both ways to those in need. It is all a welcome change.