Green light for semi at Croke Park

HEINEKEN CUP:IN CONFIRMING Central Council's decision to allow Croke Park be used for the rugby's Heineken Cup semi-final in May – should it be needed – GAA president Nickey Brennan couldn't help get a little excited by the circumstances of it all. "It was a historic day for the association," he said in Hayes Hotel, Thurles, after the Central Council meeting.

“This is the hotel where it all started in 1884, and I suppose if Cusack and Davin had walked in, I don’t think they could have envisaged the sort of subject matters we talked about.”

Brennan didn’t ask for a vote, nor were financial considerations expressed: “Central Council had the response from [IRFU chief executive] Philip Browne and the IRFU relating to the possible use of Croke Park for a Munster game in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup. There was no vote.”

So, provided Munster beat the Ospreys at Thomond Park, their semi-final will go to Croke Park. That match may well be a sell-out if it’s against Leinster, who need to win away to London Harlequins.

On other matters, Brennan confirmed if the new yellow card rule was passed at Congress, they would only be implemented at club level after January 1st, 2010.

Also, the first International Rules Test next October 24th will be played at the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick – provided the floodlights are installed on schedule. The second Test will take place at Croke Park on October 31st. The interprovincial hurling will take place on March 14th, with the football set for October at a provincial venue.

GAA director general Paraic Duffy also commented on the Cork hurling dispute: “The perception may be out there Croke Park has played no role, is just standing by. That’s just not true. We have tried very, very hard to see was there any basis on which we could move this on. We simply haven’t been able . . . We can’t find a way.

“It is not an easy problem to solve . . . The parties involved have to consider their own position, because we can’t impose something on them.”