Only a year after the breakthrough of their first national Senior Cup triumph, Co Sligo are attempting a unique treble in the Bulmers All-Ireland Cups and Shields finals at Dundalk today, tomorrow and Saturday. They hope to become the first club to capture the Barton Shield, Senior Cup and Junior Cup in the same season. This annual showpiece of interclub competition will have a total of 17 clubs competing for five trophies. While Co Sligo will be the busiest, Limerick are aiming to emulate their achievement of 1976 with a double in the Barton Shield and the Senior Cup.

Main focus of attention today is the Barton Shield, which will be played to a conclusion. As it happens, Co Sligo, who are heading for three-in-a-row, will have the same pairings in action as beat Cork in last year's final at Tramore. Since then, however, Kenneth Kearney has won the Irish Close title at Westport.

It will be recalled that David Dunne, who made his international debut at Burnham and Berrow earlier this month, Kevin Flanagan, Kearney and Seryth Heavey, went on to complete a memorable double last year, as members of the triumphant Co Sligo Senior Cup team.

Meanwhile, their semi-final meeting with Shandon Park this morning revives memories of the 1994 national finals held at Rosses Point. On that occasion, Shandon beat Co Sligo 3-2 in the Senior Cup decider.

The Ulster club are now looking to a trophy which they have won on five occasions, their last success having come in 1985. As it happens, their Barton Shield line-up includes three players - Neil Anderson, Barry Hobson and Philip Purdy - from the successful Senior Cup side of three years ago.

In the other semi-final, Limerick will be looking to repeat their victories of 1967 and 1976. Their youthful side contains Timmy Rice, who has returned from university in the US to form a particularly interesting partnership with Ger Vaughan. Their opponents, Carlow, have an equally impressive second pairing in Tommy Lennon and Jason Farrell.

None of the semi-finalists in the Jimmy Bruen Shield has previously captured the trophy but the Pierce Purcell Shield line-up contains Connacht's representatives, Oughterard, who won the tournament in 1990.

When Co Sligo celebrated their centenary in 1994 with the staging of the Cups and Shields, they set their heart on winning the Junior Cup to add to their successes of 1939 and 1971. So, they were bitterly disappointed to lose to Ballymena in the final, especially since the decisive point came at the 21st hole.

Now they are back to battle for this trophy once more, when they face Laytown and Bettystown in the semi-finals this morning. Cork, who have won the Junior Cup on three occasions - 1926, 1937 and 1991 - are in the other semi-final against Ulster's representatives from Castlerock.

The Junior Cup has always been the most hotly contested of the established competitions, a fact that is reflected in the 51 different clubs who have won from 83 stagings. This compares with only 23 victorious clubs in 82 stagings of the Senior Cup.

So, even with Shane Flanagan and Stephen O'Donovan as survivors of the 1994 side, Co Sligo's challenge is formidable.