THE GAA's development plan for Croke Park remains on hold pending an appeal to Dublin Corporation. At yesterday's end-of-year review at Ceannarus, the association's director general Liam Mulvihill outlined the progress of the re-building and details of other projects, mainly a museum to be opened in the New Stand.

With the New Stand, phase one of the redevelopment, now "completely operational" according to Dermot Power, the scheme's marketing manager, the focus is now on the GAA's planned phase two - the construction of a stand on the site of the Canal End Terrace. Phase two is, however, stalled for the time being.

"We are awaiting a decision from the Corporation on a derogation from the planning permission," said Mulvihill. "We have applied to retain the Hill as a standing area."

In the course of allowing various appeals on certain planning provisos, An Bord Pleanala upheld Dublin Corporation's decision to order the GAA to proceed with development of the Hill 16 terrace as phase two of the building programme. Consequently, the GAA are currently appealing the original Corporation decision.

Mulvihill was unsure as to when a decision could be expected. Without further complication, it could be soon, but the verdict could be pushed back until after Christmas.

This has obvious implications for the completion date of the next phase, even allowing for a successful outcome to the appeal which neither Mulvihill nor GAA president Jack Booth man were guaranteeing.

Should the current appeal succeed, the project will still face a pressurised timetable. According to both Boothman and Mulvihill, the ambition is that the Canal End development could follow the same timetable as the New Stand did, three years ago, with a phased introduction of the facility.

This would mean the opening of the first tier of the stand in time for the All-Ireland football final. Such progress would mean little or no loss of capacity as the current terrace holds about 10,000 people - the same number as the new bottom tier could take.

The difficulty here is that work on the New Stand got under way almost immediately after the 1993 All-Ireland football final and construction of the stand began in the new year of 1994.

Mulvihill believes, however, that the two building programmes are not the same. "The demolition of the Cusack took three months. Demolition of the Canal End would only take about a month."

One of the main hope for the appeal to the Corporation is that the prevailing mood at the time of the original order has changed. In the aftermath of then recent soccer disasters, especially Hillsborough, the theory that seated accommodation is safer gained currency.

That view is not held with the same force now. The Code of Practice for Safety at Sports Grounds, published last January, specifically endorses one of the arguments that the GAA make in relation to keeping the Hill as a terrace - particularly as it is less than 10 years old.

Chapter 13.1 of the report states: "However, there is no reason to believe that terraces cannot remain a perfectly safe area for viewing major sporting events".

According to Mulvihill: "Fears concerning a structure this size can in the light of experience be seen as more groundless. The access and egress of phase one have been successful. The Hamilton report (1990, one of the documents on which this year's Code of Practice is based) says terracing is not intrinsically dangerous".

The financing of phase two will not be as painless as it was with phase one. Reserves, a government grant of £5 million and advance sales of the corporate facilities meant that the New Stand was built without a penny having to be borrowed. "Phase two will require borrowing," says Mulvihill, "of between £15 and £20 million, hopefully nearer 15."

Advance funding from the sale of corporate facilities will be more restricted as the stand will be located at the south end of the ground rather than along the sideline. As a compensation, the size of the corporate boxes may be bigger, but the financing will not bring in as much in advance.

According to Dermot Power, the premium tickets to the New Stand - about 3,000 on the corporate level - have all been sold. "In marketing terms, you'd say it's sold out. In fact, there's about 50 left in odd parts of the stand."

Phase two already has a head-start as seven or eight companies are on a waiting list. "We have had unsolicited inquiries about corporate boxes," said Power. "A lot would like to move up from a single box to a double. The market has grown with the development, but we're doing research at the moment because the market is unlikely to be the same."

It is also hoped to have a GAA museum opened by next September. Consultants have already been appointed to do the work which was delayed by the decision to treat the museum as a separate project in order to speed up the completion of phase one.

The major focus of the development will be on "inter-active facilities" according to Mulvihill. "It will take up to one third of the Service area level (containing dressing-rooms, vehicle access and medical facilities) and will include the availability of commentary and film of old matches, printouts on former players and video games where you can take a shot against Paddy Cullen and any other players.

"There will also be old jerseys, sliotars and hurleys, that sort of thing, and a multi-media theatre where visitors can experience the big-match atmosphere.

"We are spending £3 million on it and have been promised funding under a EU scheme, but there'll be a separate announcement to be made on that later." The idea is that the museum - which will probably charge an admission fee - will pay for its running costs with the help of a restaurant and merchandising.

Based on the Barcelona soccer club's museum and a more directly comparable installation by the RFU at Twickenham, the museum will be designed by Robin Wade and Partners who have established themselves as the best known designers of sports museums in this part of the world.

Wade, based in England, is currently working on a similar project for Manchester United. He will be joined by Orna Hanly, an Irish architect specialising in museum design.