Thurles, oft painted as the timeless and spiritual garden of hurling, has been filled with nothing more than whistling breezes all summer. The great game has been kept away. Coincidence lies behind the fact that, when the gates of the stadium are finally opened next weekend, when the grass is lined and the nets fastened, it will be to facilitate the resurrection of a treasured football rivalry.

The rekindling of the storied drama that is Dublin v Kerry will be the stuff that heats the terraces at Thurles this year. No Cork v Tipp. No Clare, no ghostly Ring, no Leahy, no Tony Browne. The radical All-Ireland football championship format has stoked new possibilities for that sport and the last few weeks have held the imagination in a way that must be thrilling the signatories of the bold blueprint.

The fever has been sweeping and the rewards are already evident with the fresh history that Westmeath is making and positive clucking emerging from the once browbeaten quarters of Sligo, Wexford, Roscommon. All of this week, the public focus has been on the resumption of the dynamic football competition.

Tomorrow's hurling quarter-finals in Croke Park look, after a month of big-ball theatre, like limp intermission fare. For the average GAA fan, the line-up possesses a diluted appeal at best. Limerick's emergence is of interest, but Wexford, for all the precious hold on affections that they commanded a few years back, have made for pedestrian sport. And Galway v Derry? Be still, my heart.

In a circular revolution that would have been inconceivable half a decade ago, hurling and football are being held up in scrutiny and the stick and ball game is losing out. Hurling is in decline and the fear for all Gaels must be that football's enlightenment age will hasten that process.

"I don't think anyone is serving hurling well right now, myself included," said Liam Griffin, a central character in the perceived golden age of the mid 1990s. "Unless the necessary structures are implemented immediately to ensue that game thrives from under-age level through to the senior set-up, I think that the sport will further and further retrench to the extent that is practically underground."

Griffin is famously passionate when it comes to hurling without ever being in any way exclusionist. Frustrated by what might be seen as a wilful indolence on the part of the GAA in relation to the sport's slow fall from grace, he has begun to despair for a saviour. Griffin does his bit, coaching away at under-age level in Wexford and sometimes lending a hand at inter-county level whenever Tony Dempsey, the current manager, asks him. It was Griffin's lyrical talks during Wexford's All-Ireland season in 1996 that helped evoke a new, nationwide appreciation of hurling.

Following hot on the heels of Ger Loughnane's ferocious brand of Clare poetry, aided by a brilliant new marketing campaign and a series of unforgettable games, Griffin helped inspire what became a general celebration of hurling. That epoch probably came to an end in the autumn of 1998, when Offaly won their last championship, Clare became a spent force and hurling's other nouveau riche - Waterford, Wexford - seemed to go into decline. But the memory of those great years is still warm, so much so that it Griffin's perspective might could be regarded as overly pessimistic.

"Well, the funny thing about that is that I have been saying this for the past 15 years. And I was saying it when Wexford was winning."

It could be argued that the GAA was deeply mistaken to allow the new 'second-chance' system to take precedence in the football championship. Gaelic football has a strong enough parish hold in all counties to survive; the health of hurling is a much more uncertain entity. Much of the good of the brief period of spectator dominance enjoyed by the sport will be eroded by the unprecedented drama of this season's football.

But the Hurling Development Committee are certain that next year's innovations will give hurling parity of esteem. "I would agree that the hurling has been totally smothered by football this year," says Nicky Brennan, who toiled hard to bring the new hurling format into being.

"Hopefully the remaining games in the hurling championship will redress the balance - I believe we could have a few very good matches ahead of us. But, in the long term, I think that the new system will lead to the emergence of a sustained and competitive championship and the gradual strengthening of the game at grassroots level."

It should be emphasised that Brennan, like most hurling men, does not lament the success of the football championship nor does he perceive it as a threat. "The reality is that there is an element of competition between the two sports, both for athletes and profile," he says. "But there is a definite room for coexistence."

Brennan's own county, Kilkenny, has been identified by Griffin as a core model for the rest of the counties. The emphasis is not on the current stars such as Carey and Shefflin but always on tomorrow, on the youngsters. And it is harder to attract youngsters to any sport now. There are too many diversions.

The acceleration of everyday life and the onset of true materialism in this country have altered the relationship between youngsters and sport. The old GAA allure of the jersey is no longer sufficient. The purist in Griffin sees the unique qualities of Irish sport as all the more invaluable in an increasingly homogenised environment but the realist in him appreciates the necessity of marketing the sport with modern tools.

"I know I keep saying that hurling is the greatest field sport in the world. But it is not marketed that way for kids right now. This is a quick-fix age. Where is the excitement? Where is the draw? We have seen the Galway footballers on television three times this year - and they have been brilliant to watch. But here we are approaching August and only now do we see the Galway hurlers."

Nicky Brennan testifies that the HDC are fairly satisfied with the number of youngsters playing hurling at present. He accepts that at senior level, the competition is looking unhappily lop-sided, with the standard set by his own county almost oppressive. And it is a poor sign that when a team that achieves a standard of near excellence in a sport, it is perceived as a threat to the welfare of that sport.

"What I would say about that is that Kilkenny went through periods of domination before in the 60s and 70s. They ended. Also, the county won 10 Leinster minor titles running so it was obvious that they were going to enjoy a reasonable degree of senior success. In any case, I would reject the forecasts that their domination is inevitable over the coming years; in fact, they may not even dominate this season. And we believe the new system will bring about a new period of competition."

But what if it doesn't? Some commentators believe that the new system cannot successfully promote hurling to the requisite extent and that the only way forward is an abandonment of the revered provincial system. While Munster is still a vibrant force, runs the theory, it is a luxury the sport cannot afford. An open draw is the only salvation.

The signs of erosion are already evident. If Wexford do not execute an unlikely upset tomorrow, how bleak the future there? The gunslingers from Offaly are at last heading for the sunset with no visible heirs. Waterford's threat seems to have receded. Elsewhere, the signs are more devastating. What of Dublin, steaming with promise as recently as 1997?

"We are on a slippery slope," says Liam Griffin. And the climb back grows steeper by the week.