Croke Park may stage Ulster football final

The Ulster football final is set to return to Croke Park this July after the success of last year when 67,136 turned up for Armagh's emphatic victory over Donegal, preceded by the minor final between Down and Tyrone.

An immediate stumbling block is that the July 17th fixture clashes with the Leinster football final. However, the Ulster Council are expected to change the date to Saturday July 16th if they feel the 36,000-capacity St Tiernach's Park in Clones will not meet demand.

If Tyrone and Armagh, both with large support bases, progress from either side of the draw, a return to Croke Park becomes inevitable.

Like last year, the switch will be announced before the Ulster semi-finals to enable sufficient time for arrangements to be put in place, like informing the local residents' association. Although no formal deadline has been set, an approach to Croke Park and the GAC would be required before mid-June.

"The Ulster championship is shaping up to be another classic this year so if we have to cater for demand for the final we'll look at Croke Park again," said Ulster PRO Martin McAviney.

Last year was the first time since 1942 the final was held outside Ulster and the first in Croke Park since 1939. It was fixed on the premise of a Tyrone and Armagh decider, which didn't materialise as Donegal beat the then All-Ireland champions in the semi-finals. Yet Donegal's support ensured the day was a record-breaking turnout for the final and the largest attendance for any provincial final in 2004.

GAA director general Liam Mulvihill, who initially suggested the idea, referred to the success of last year's final in his report to Congress. "Depending on the pairings, it became inevitable that a significant number of people, particularly children, were being disappointed on an ongoing basis despite the fact that the improved road infrastructure made Dublin easily accessible in a reasonable time.

"These were the reasons that I suggested Croke Park for consideration in respect of an Ulster final venue and to the Ulster Council's credit they took the brave and far-sighted decision at the semi-final stage before the final pairings were fully known.

"Inevitably the cynics and soothsayers of doom emerged and there was a period when the council had to listen to a mantra that their experiment would end up a failure."

Three years ago the strategic review committee (SRC) called for all provinces to build 55,000-capacity stadiums. Munster (Semple Stadium) and Leinster (Croke Park) already meet the criteria but Connacht and Ulster do not, although the Maze prison grounds near Belfast have been agreed in principle as the site to build a multi-sports arena.

Meanwhile, tomorrow on RTÉ 2 sees a GAA night starting at 8pm with the documentary Final Words: Hurling 2004. It is a companion piece to the previous year's programme of the same title, which conducted interviews with Cork and Kilkenny players in the aftermath of the 2003 All-Ireland final.

With the same teams involved a year later but with Cork successfully reversing the result, the documentary revisited the teams and together with contributions from journalists and commentators, built an expanded picture of the season by also focusing on the Waterford team that won the county's seventh Munster title last summer.

It will be shown at the beginning of an evening's schedule that will also reveal the final countdown of RTÉ's Top 20 GAA Moments as voted on by viewers in recent weeks.

The triple-header is completed by the award-winning documentary, Marooned which follows Páidí Ó Sé's successful first year as manager of Westmeath.