While Leinster intends to resume its league programme on March 24th, and may yet give the go-ahead for the Senior Cup final to be played on St Patrick's Day, the Ulster Women's Hockey Union is awaiting advice from the Irish Hockey Association (IHA) before deciding when their programme of matches can resume.

Yesterday the Ulster branch called off all five of its cup finals - the Ulster and McConnell Shields, the Intermediate, Junior and Minor Cups - scheduled for St Patrick's Day, because several of the finalists are from rural areas.

But it expressed hope that league matches can be played on March 24th at the earliest, March 31st at the latest.

What is certain is that the IHA's deadline of March 21st, by which time the qualifiers for the All-Ireland club championship play-offs were to be confirmed, will be put back by at least a fortnight, consequently delaying the finals by a similar period.