4 days ago
Hyde Park under consideration for one of this weekend's big All-Ireland SFC games
King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park is a leading consideration to host one of the big All-Ireland SFC final round games on Saturday or Sunday week.
The Roscommon town grounds, which staged the Dublin-Mayo final round match 12 months ago, could be the venue for either the Donegal-Mayo or Armagh-Galway fixture.
Armagh and Galway faced off at the same stage of the competition in Markievicz Park last year but the Sligo town stadium has since been closed due to pitch reconstruction. Carrick-on-Shannon's Avant Money Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada is another alternative.
The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) will meet on Tuesday to confirm the neutral venues, while they must also consider the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists Laois and Kildare will be at home to Dublin and Tipperary in Saturday week's All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals. This Saturday's Joe McDonagh Cup winners will play host to Dublin, while Tipperary will travel to face the runners-up.
Portlaoise's Laois Hire O'Moore Park has held Kerry's last two final round matches against Louth and their top-of-the-table Group 2 clash with Meath could be organised for there.
For the other game in Group 2, either Limerick's TUS Gaelic Grounds or Ennis's Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg would seem appropriate for the meeting of Cork and Roscommon.
In Group 4, the likes of Newry's Páirc Esler and Clones's St Tiernach's Park may stage the Dublin-Derry clash. The latter Monaghan venue was the scene for the counties's 2003 qualifier.
The final two games in each group usually throw in at the same time in the interests of fairness although the CCCC may have some wiggle room in Group 3 as neither Clare nor Louth, who face each other, can catch Down and Monaghan.
Along with two Tailteann Cup quarter-finals, GAA+ is set to show two final round games on Saturday with RTÉ televising another two on Sunday.
Meanwhile, GAA president Jarlath Burns will attend a Munster hurling development roadshow on the eve of the provincial hurling final in Limerick this Friday.
Providing the keynote address entitled Vision For The Future of Hurling, Burns will be joined in Mary Immaculate College by Munster GAA CEO Kieran Leddy and newly-appointed national head of hurling Willie Maher.
The presentation comes at a time when Kerry have been relegated to the Christy Ring Cup and Waterford failed to qualify from the Munster SHC round-robin for the sixth consecutive time.
The roadshow in MIC is one of eight the GAA have scheduled. Already, there have been meetings in Antrim, Mayo and Tyrone with the latest taking place in Kilkenny on Wednesday. In September, the roadshow will conclude with visits to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Croke Park.
