Launching the business end of the competition

Women's Football: The Women's football championship is already under way, but the official launch took place in Croke Park yesterday.

Maybe it was the only time so many captains and the Taoiseach could descend on Dublin. Or maybe a soothsayer foresaw that Monday, July 11th, would be a gloriously sunny day.

This championship has grown to such an extent that even Donegal are being mentioned as contenders this time around. Cork won the league, Kerry and Waterford will be competitive, while whoever comes out of Connacht will be the side to beat. And then there is Dublin.

Defeated in the last two All-Ireland finals, former All-Ireland winning captain John O'Leary brings them back once more. Injuries have weakened their hand though and Galway repeated last year's final victory in the league quarter-finals. They will still be expected to come out of Leinster.

"If I had my way I would have started training after the final," said defiant Dublin player Niamh McEvoy. "This is something we really want and it is something we are prepared to do anything for it. There is no way to describe how we really felt after it.

"There is no point in sitting around mopping. We lost at the end of the day, but we are going to take action. Use the experience of being there as a positive and what we did and what we could have done. Hopefully, it will make us stronger."

Aoibheann Daly leads the All-Ireland champions Galway this year. They have already lost to Mayo in the round-robin Connacht championship, but victory over Roscommon will ensure a rematch on August 7th, the same day as the Munster final in Páirc Uí Rinn. The Leinster (Dr Cullen Park) and Ulster (Clones) finals are on July 31st.

"In my own opinion," starts Daly. "I think Cork will be keen, but it's hard to know if they have not peaked too soon. They are going well at the moment. Dublin as well, then hopefully ourselves. There is still very little between the top teams."

Mayo, in the unfamiliar surroundings of the long grass, still have the talent to regain the title they last held in 2003.