It took the involvement of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern TD to help resolve the impasse between Croke Park and the GAA over Dublin's All-Ireland quarter-finalreplay with Donegal but the match will go ahead tomorrow week at five o'clock. Seán Moran reports.

"The Taoiseach is down in Kerry at the moment," said GAA PRO Danny Lynch, "but he was in contact with parties through his office here in Dublin. Members of his local party organisation (Croke Park is in Dublin Central, the Taoiseach's constituency) heard about the problems and contacted him on his holidays. He got in touch with his people and tic-tacked between the parties."

So after a protracted day's negotiations with Croke Park neighbourhood residents, the GAA was finally able to announce the long-awaited details of the fixture.

The talks had gone on for three days before resolution and at one stage it looked as if the match, which is expected to draw between 60,000 and 70,000, would have to be scheduled for Clones.

Eventually agreement was reached yesterday evening and the replay will go ahead as originally expected.

There was also further news on the Sligo-Armagh replay, which on Wednesday had been fixed for Navan on Sunday week. It will have a start time of 5.15, as agreement has been reached with RTÉ to broadcast the match live after the Tipperary-Kilkenny All-Ireland hurling semi-final earlier that afternoon.

In return for allowing the Dublin match to go ahead the residents have secured an undertaking from the GAA that, in future, Saturday replays of championship rounds - up to and including All-Ireland quarter-finals - would take place outside of Dublin. The exceptions will be Leinster finals and matches expected to attract attendances of 50,000 or over.

Both parties acknowledged each other's difficulties: the inconvenience to residents and the dilemma this particular fixture was causing the GAA in terms of finding a venue outside of Croke Park.

Meanwhile, Clare hurlers will breathe a sigh of relief at the news that no charges are to be laid against captain Brian Lohan. The Games Administration Committee of the GAA met on Wednesday night to consider a number of disciplinary matters. Among them was video footage of the Clare-Galway All-Ireland hurling quarter-final and a clash between Lohan and Eugene Cloonan.

In the incident, Lohan pulls across the lower body of Cloonan who falls to the ground clutching his head. It is believed that the GAC were unimpressed by the Galwayman's attempts at felon-setting and unconvinced that the video evidence was of sufficient standard to support a successful charge of striking.

The news will be a boost for Clare who, should they defeat Waterford in this Sunday's semi-final, would have had to face the prospect of an All-Ireland final without their talismanic captain who has been in fine form this year. Another incident between Lohan and Galway's Damien Hayes was not considered.

There was, however, a less happy outcome for Antrim's Liam Watson who will be charged for striking Tipperary's Paul Ormonde deliberately and in full view of the television cameras. He will be charged with both the assault and also the offence of discrediting the association.

The double charge is necessitated on technical grounds. In a separate development, the GAA's Management Committee has recommended to Central Council that an offence, which has already been dealt with by the match referee, should still be reviewable by GAC.

This would overturn the 2000 precedent under which Cork hurler Diarmuid O'Sullivan escaped charges of striking because he had been shown a yellow card for the offence by match referee Aodan MacSuibhne. If Central Council accepts the Management recommendation at its next meeting, the charge of striking can be pursued against Watson even though the match referee showed him only a yellow card.

If Watson is found to have struck Ormonde, he faces a three-month suspension; the charge of discrediting the association carries a two-month ban.

Meath's Ollie Murphy was suspended for eight weeks for verbally abusing referee Michael Collins in the All-Ireland qualifier against Donegal. Meath have not been slow to broadcast their dissatisfaction with Collins's refereeing in general and in that match in particular but after a hearing the GAC decided to impose the prescribed suspension for the offence, which was levelled in the referee's report.

Meanwhile, Enda McGinley returns from injury to skipper Tyrone in Sunday's Ulster Under-21 Championship final against Cavan at Enniskillen.

TYRONE (U-21F v Cavan): P Ward; F Donnelly, K McCrory, D Carlin; D Harte, M Anderson, P O'Farrell; P Donnelly, P Rouse; S McNally, S Kavanagh, C Carlin; O Mulligan, E McGinley, R Ward.

Tickets for Sunday's All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Clare and Waterford will go on sale at Croke Park from 11 o'clock this morning until seven o'clock this evening.

Should stocks last, they will also be available tomorrow at the same venue.