Seán Moran examines how the trend in staging matches under floodlights might be developed.

Last night's O'Byrne Cup match between Longford and Meath in Simonstown was further evidence of a trend towards staging matches under floodlights. In 2001, the Railway Cup football tournament was held in Stack Park, Tralee, and next month the National Football League begins with a floodlit fixture between Cork and Kerry.

Opinions vary within the provinces as to the precise prospects of the experiment, but there is general acceptance that night-time matches will become more common.

Danny Murphy, secretary of the Ulster Council, is cautious about the development, although the province has a county ground with lights in Castleblaney. "My club (Burren) installed the first floodlights on any GAA field back in 1975," he says, "so I am not sceptical about the use of them. But the association has to decide if there's going to be a widespread use for them.

"The potential has to be there, but it has to include full facilities, not just a set of lights. I don't know if it's feasible to talk about 32 county grounds with lights. If there's one in each province there has to be a particular level of competition. Otherwise, what happens if the county whose ground has lights is to play a neighbouring county?"

Michael Delaney, secretary of the Leinster Council, says his province is starting to make moves on the matter. "We've done nothing but talk about it in recent times, but one pitch we're encouraging is Parnell Park in Dublin. If the county goes down that road we'll assist them. Just before Christmas we had a presentation on floodlit pitches from Philips, so the idea is being taken seriously."

Munster chairman Christy Cooney sees the facility as a real opportunity. "We can play matches in the winter and hopefully the public will respond given the opportunity to go to matches at night after work. It also gives a new dimension to the club scene and schools. Hopefully it will expand. The success of Cork-Kerry will be a very good tester as to the support of the public."

Both Cooney and Murphy emphasise the need for good-quality pitches if floodlit matches are to have a future. It is a concern shared by Connacht secretary John Prenty.

"We have no plans at the moment for floodlighting. The question is, would the grounds be playable if floodlit? Priority should be given to getting the fields right. There's no use in getting lights if you can't play on the surface."

Developments in pitch technology make this less of a problem, and there is lukewarm support for the use of Astroturf. Nonetheless, according to Murphy, "I would reserve judgment on that. Gaelic football exposes players to friction burns on the surface and the experience in the Astrodome (in Toronto, where a couple of All Stars exhibitions were played in the late 1980s and early 1990s) was that the bounce of a hurling ball wasn't true even if the roll was."

Delaney agrees. "There's no great move towards it and I'm not sure if it's that suitable for our games."

Prenty is more enthusiastic - "Astroturf in future could be a good idea, especially for coaching." - as is Cooney: "Astroturf or a strongly sanded pitch would be important. We in Munster give money to clubs to upgrade their fields if they agree to take colleges' matches during the winter."

On the question of venues, this year's first meeting of the Games Administration Committee will tonight decide on the details of next month's All-Ireland club semi-finals. The task is complicated by the probable unavailability of Thurles and Limerick - both ideal venues for the Birr-Athenry hurling semi-final. With development work going on in each ground, the options are likely to come down to Portlaoise and Ennis.

Otherwise it is a straightforward matter. Mount Sion and Dunloy will probably meet at Parnell Park, whereas the football semi-finals could see Cork's Nemo Rangers and Errigal Ciaran from Tyrone play in Newbridge, where the clubs contested a previous semi-final in 1994. Crossmolina and Dunshaughlin are most likely to meet in Longford.

Dunshaughlin are facing the loss of forward Damien Burke who received a red card in the Meath League final at the weekend, and, because of the suspension moratorium, he won't start his ban until the beginning of February.