Semi-finals a double bill

2005 Leinster championships/Dates and venues: Next year's Leinster provincial football semi-finals will be played as a double bill in Croke Park, with the new schedule partly influenced by a concert date reserved for U2. It will be the first time the semi-finals take place at the same venue on the same day.

The dates and venues for all the Leinster football and hurling championships will be approved at this evening's meeting of the Leinster Council, but few if any changes are expected from a provisional list distributed to county representatives at the weekend.

The football semi-finals are set for June 19th, as the Leinster Council were informed that the following Sunday, June 26th, has been reserved for a concert.

An official announcement on U2's concert dates is not expected at least until after the November 22nd release of their new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. But unofficial dates of June 26th and June 27th have been circulated, with Internet sites already selling tickets for those dates.

What is certain is that no games will take place at Croke Park that weekend. Two years ago Central Council gave approval for two concerts there annually, but because of this summer's redevelopment work at the Hill 16 end - where the stage is erected - it was decided the concerts would begin in 2005.

There will be a significant financial bonus for the GAA with the staging of two U2 concerts at Croke Park. It will also be the band's first concert at the venue since 1987, although they did play a small set as part of the Special Olympics opening ceremony in June last year.

Yet the reserved date has forced the Leinster Council to work with a more limited schedule next summer. In effect, they've brought one football semi-final forward by a week, as this past summer the two games took place on June 21st and June 27th.

But they're also set to make far greater use of Croke Park, with all but one of the 10 football championship matches going to GAA headquarters.

Right now the only game set for a provincial venue is the first-round tie between Offaly and Louth, set for Navan.

Another consideration for the semi-final double-bill was the potential line-up, which unlike recent years can't guarantee the presence of more that one high-profile team.

Dublin, for example, start their football campaign at the first-round stage for the first time since 1991 as a result of their failure to make this year's semi-finals. They are set to play Longford in Croke Park on May 15th in a double bill with the Wicklow-Kildare tie.

Two quarter-finals will take place on May 29th, Laois against Offaly or Louth, and Westmeath against Kildare or Wicklow. The other two will take place on June 5th: Meath against Dublin or Longford, and Carlow against Wexford. Potentially the likes of Wexford or Offaly, not known for bringing strong football support, could be contesting the semi-finals. The new schedule means there will also be four full weeks before both the semi-finals and the final, set for July 17th.

Leinster's two hurling semi-finals are also set to be played as a double bill in Croke Park on June 12th, with the preliminary game between Laois and Dublin set for Kilkenny on May 22nd.

Elsewhere, the Leinster club football championship quarter-final replay between Starlights of Wexford and Rathvilly of Carlow has been set for Sunday at Belfield, Enniscorthy. There are also three Ulster club football quarter-final replays.

The live TG4 match on Sunday will be the Leinster club hurling semi-final between James Stephens (Kilkenny) and Oulart-The-Ballagh (Wexford) in Nowlan Park.

2005 LEINSTER CHAMPIONSHIP (provisional): SFC: (1) Offaly v Louth, May 8th, Navan; (2) 1 v Laois, May 29th, Croke Park; (3) Wicklow v Kildare, May 15th, Croke Park; (4) 3 v Westmeath, May 29th, Croke Park; (5) Dublin v Longford, May 15th, Croke Park; (6) 5 v Meath, June 5th, Croke Park; (7) Carlow v Wexford, June 5th, Croke Park; (8) 2 v 4, June 19th, Croke Park, (9) 6 v 7, June 19th, Croke Park. Final: 8 v 9, July 17th, Croke Park.

SHC: (1) Laois v Dublin, May 22nd, Kilkenny; (2) 1 v Wexford, June 12th, Croke Park; (3) Offaly v Kilkenny, June 12th, Croke Park. Final: 2 v 3, July 3rd, Croke Park.