Dublin hope to appoint a director of hurling before next June, according to county chairman John Bailey. This appointment will be the first step towards implementing the ambitious proposals of the Dublin Hurling Review Group Blueprint for Change and Success, published last November. The plan received strong backing from Monday's meeting of the county board.

"There's been no great investment put into hurling in Dublin over the past 30 years," said Bailey, "and we've got to invest the personnel and the resources. The county board meeting was a fantastic response to hurling in Dublin. The blueprint is a well thought-out document, the result of a lot of work over several meetings leading up to its launch.

"But the proposals were open until Monday night. We gave it to the clubs last month and asked them to go off and read it, to pull it apart and put it back the way they wanted. There was an excellent discussion and not one dissenting voice."

The county awaits the imminent publication of the GAA's Strategic Review Group report to see what plans the association has for Gaelic games in Dublin.

"We wrote a document for Croke Park and the review group so they're fully aware of our position. I think there's a general recognition that the GAA can't afford to lose Dublin. We have to work with Croke Park so we'll wait and see what's in the strategic plan. We also have to get the go-ahead from the county executive and the county board but we would hope to appoint the director of hurling by next June. We wouldn't want to leave it any later than that."

This new position is one of five proposals in the blueprint. The others are: new divisional and playing structures; a highly skilled coaching programme; a dedicated hurling centre incorporating an academy of excellence; a dedicated hurling culture and dynamic image for Dublin hurling.

Less encouraging news for the county's senior team and manager Kevin Fennelly is the expected news that dual player Shane Ryan has opted for football. Football manager Tommy Lyons made his position clear when he took the job that he didn't see a role in his panel for dual players. Fennelly himself is of a similar view.

As in other counties, dual players tend to gravitate to the stronger code and in Dublin that means football. Bailey doesn't see this tendency as any obstacle to the plans for hurling.

"I would hope that the door will not be closed on any player who wants to play for Dublin but Shane is one of several players. You've got to understand about guys like him that they end up playing for so many teams that someone has to help them make the decision to cut down a bit. Training in Dublin is very time-consuming. It can take an hour to get from work to home and another hour to get out again in the traffic."

Finally Bailey dismissed reports he had been approached by Fine Gael to run for the party in Dún Laoghaire in this year's general election. "No one has approached me from any party. I have never disclosed my politics. The GAA is a voluntary organisation and I give of my time to it willingly as long as my efforts are wanted. But my private life, my business and my politics shouldn't be discussed."