Last July, rather than kicking their heels and watching replays of the World Cup to fill the time void created by their early championship exit, the Dublin squad began training again.

It was weird, planning a winter under floodlights when the rest of the country was ablaze with provincial final meltdown and the evenings stretched on to merge with the moon.

Strange also was the number of new faces scuttling around Parnell Park, pensive youngsters unsure of whether they could infiltrate a set-up which had seemed unimpeachable for most of the decade. And hardest of all to take for the returning players like Ciaran Whelan was the absence of those old faces, guys without whom, it seemed, Dublin could once not even have contemplated fielding a team. Just gone.

"It was a brave decision by Tommy Carr, bringing in so many new guys like that but I think it was probably the only thing left for him to do. The effect on the squad has been enormous. It has meant that the guys who were already there began to feel more sure of themselves while the new blood gave an adrenalin surge to the established players. Paul Curran for example, was possibly considering retirement at the end of last year and now, he's hungrier than ever," says Whelan.

Still, it was such a clinically clean departure by the soft-spoken Carr that you wonder if several exiled players aren't still numbed by the severance.

"Well, I'm quite sure Tommy and the selectors are keeping a close eye on everyone playing club football and I don't think the door is closed on anyone," declares Whelan.

"But, I mean, it's one of the sad things about Gaelic football anyway, that a lad can play for his county for 10 years and then, one day, he is just not there anymore, forgotten about. The same fellow could end up with arthritis after the years of service he's given his county and no one even knows. It's something that's always struck me as an unfortunate aside to Gaelic games but I don't know that there is any solution."

And in the capital, the perimeters are evenly more deeply dug. Down the country, most former county stars are pale lights within their own parish pubs at the very least. In Dublin, nothing.

"Yeah, you don't get the same recognition in the city, which is a help in a way, because it affords you a degree of privacy. There has always been a pressure associated with Dublin football - if we endure a few bleak years, it's as though there is a crisis.

"But that's because there are so many good players about. I think that you only ever get one chance with Dublin. I'd say there are a lot of lads walking about who could be on the panel but maybe didn't play well at a trial or something. It's that competitive, you really earn your place."

And Whelan has made his position for keeps. When the flags were raised last November, he exploded and the rest of this Dublin team followed. Whelan ran with midsummer lightness when a free-flowing Dublin side blitzed Tyrone. They haven't let up since.

"It was hard at times keeping the momentum but we built up a reserve of fitness and it was just a matter of keeping the sharpness. That's why the league is perfect for us, giving us competitive games and keeping the match pattern going. Personally, I would love to win a National League medal, it's something I would value and I'm sure everyone else in the panel feels the same.

We have played Armagh before, they have a fine midfield in Jarlath (Burns) and Paul (McGrane) and are going well. It's a game we want to win. There is a really good spirit within the squad, we look forward to every game."

Whelan arrived on the big-time scene as the city team were about to enter a transition period, the heady days of 1995 dissolving into dark times of disillusionment and recriminations as the Mickey Whelan era never really got rolling. Is there a sense that maybe Dublin regressed in that time, lost an edge they had spent the first half of the decade honing?

"I dunno, when you look at Dublin's record throughout the 90s, the teams have been incredibly consistent. It's funny, I sat and watched the huge acclaim which followed Kildare's Leinster win this year. And not to detract from their achievement at all, it was fantastic for them and the game, but Dublin won an All-Ireland and lost two All-Irelands in eight years and yet there has been quite a lot of negative reaction. It's as though the yardstick is different. That probably won't change. It's just a matter of getting on with it."