Senior GAA official Ryan Feeney who will take his place on the Policing Board this week, has said he signed up after the murder of Catholic Constable Ronan Kerr.
The board's new line-up will have their first public meeting on Thursday and for many Mr Feeney's appointment signifies the latest sea change in Northern Ireland policing.
"At the funeral of Ronan Kerr, we seen the entire community join together to pay respects for someone who embodies what we want in trying to build a community based on mutual respect and working towards a genuine shared future, where people from different political and religious outlooks joined together, to bury someone who was servicing the community.
"Ronan Kerr was an Irishman, someone who was very proud of that culture and after that I applied for the Policing Board post as an independent member."
Mr Feeney said he believes there has been a "massive transformation in policing in the last number of years, since the implementation of the Patten report" and felt it was time for more people from his community to "step up and take an active role in civic structures, including the Policing Board".
The former teacher joins other GAA officials who have been strongly involved in community matters, such as former GAA President Peter Quinn who was a member of the Parades Commission.
Although Mr Feeney was emphatic that he will not be a voice of GAA on the Policing Board, he did consult with them before applying for the post.
"I consulted with the leadership of the GAA, both at provincial and central level. They're very supportive of the decision I've taken. I think there are others who have taken steps before me," he said.
The former teacher told UTV his philosophy in life is "decisions are made by those who turn up" and he applauds the "massive strides seen in policing in the last number of years" but wants to see more accountability beyond the ten years of change.
