INITIAL INDICATIONS are that next year's big Tyrone-Armagh championship fixture will not be going to Croke Park. In the past four years the Ulster Council has staged some of its finals in Dublin to satisfy public demand for tickets, including the 2005 draw and replay between the two counties in question.

But according to Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy, the provincial authority doesn't have the final say in where fixtures up to the semi-finals stage are played.

"Based on precedent the first county drawn out is allowed to play at home so Tyrone have the right to stage the match in Healy Park, Omagh provided the ground can take the fixture without restriction or as an all-ticket game. The standard is set at 20,000 and Omagh is capable of taking around that."

Although the Tyrone County Board hasn't formally considered the issue yet, county PRO Damien Harvey said last night there was a view in the county that home advantage should be availed of.

"We have spent a lot of money on Omagh and initial thoughts are, even though we haven't met in committee that we would like to stage the fixture there. Obviously there is the consideration that we would like to facilitate as many people as possible but you can't tell what the interest will be in nine months' time."

Nonetheless the meeting of the All-Ireland champions and the Ulster champions would appear to have a sizeable appeal, assuming neither has a catastrophic National League campaign.

When the counties met in 2005 at Croke Park the attendance at the drawn match was 61,000 but the replay the following Saturday week attracted just 32,000. A month later when the counties met again in a classic All-Ireland semi-final, a crowd of 65,858 attended.

Ulster Council, according to Murphy, is close to completing its fixture list so a decision is expected soon. "Our fixtures will be signed off by next Thursday," he said. "The complete programme is at an advanced stage of drafting."

Meanwhile in Leinster, in the other high-profile fixture to emerge from Wednesday's draw, Dublin-Meath, there will be no repeat of the counties' legendary four-match epic in 1991.

"This time," according to Leinster chief executive Michael Delaney, "there won't be a replay if the sides are level, as congress decided that there had to be extra time so chances are that it will be decided on the day."

The provision was agreed at last January's special congress and governs all senior intercounty championship matches up to semi-final stage.

Delaney also said that the council is almost certain to retain the provincial hurling final in Croke Park and was even contemplating returning the semi-finals to the venue. This year's Kilkenny-Wexford decider attracted fewer than 20,000 to the stadium and it emerged that Leinster had come close to relocating the match to another venue for the first time in 47 years.

Next season will see Antrim and Galway in the Leinster championship for the first time and the hoped-for additional interest is enough to persuade the council to leave the final in Croke Park for another year at least.

"We have to book it in advance anyway," said Delaney, "and we'd be hopeful that there'd be better interest in it than there was during the summer. We'll be making the semi-final draw after the quarter-finals and with it being Kilkenny's first match as All-Ireland champions and potentially Galway being drawn against them we have to consider Croke Park for the semi-finals."

For the past three seasons the Leinster semi-finals have been held in provincial venues.

Tyrone's All-Ireland winning captain Brian Dooher has given the strongest indication to date that he will be back for another season with the county in 2009. Dooher (33) said yesterday he has made no decision about whether he will embark on a 14th campaign, but remaining injury-free over the next few months will be a major factor.

"We'll see what happens with injuries and stuff like that there first. If I get myself injured, I have to get injuries cleared up, then decide over the winter. It's hard to know," he said. "I think we'll enjoy ourselves for a wee while yet, before the Tyrone boys get back together again."

Manager Mickey Harte has urged his captain to throw his weight behind Tyrone's bid to win back-to-back titles next year.

For the moment Dooher is concentrating on helping his club, Clan na nGael, win promotion back to senior football in Tyrone.