Ulster Council would have no "principled objections" to an Armagh-Tyrone provincial football final being played in Croke Park. The suggestion, first made by GAA director general Liam Mulvihill in his annual report last month, has been given fresh currency by the strong performances of last year's All-Ireland finalists in this year's championship to date.
Over 25,000 attended Armagh's first round clash with Monaghan on Sunday and with Tyrone on the other side of the draw a possible Ulster final meeting is on the cards. Nonetheless provincial chairman Michael Greenan was at pains to point out such speculation was premature with the championship not even at the semi-final stage.
"There's no view on it at the moment one way or another. There are a lot of issues to be settled before we get to that stage. We've three first-round matches gone and aren't even close to looking at the final.
"But there's no principled opposition to the idea and it wouldn't be the first time. An Ulster final was played in Croke Park back in the 1930s and at another stage I believe there was one played in Dundalk."
Mickey Harte, manager of All-Ireland champions Tyrone, is on the record as supporting the idea but he, too, is wary about discussing events for which his team have yet to qualify.
"I've been asked about this before and to be honest I'd be more comfortable talking about it at the end of June if we've actually reached the final but if things work out for us, I'd have no hesitation in going to Croke Park as long as long as the administrators are happy. They're the ones who put the work in and they get to call the shots."
Meanwhile, it is unlikely that Offaly will be taking any action over Westmeath's "fifth" point in their Leinster championship first round defeat. Brian Morley's shot is believed to have actually gone wide although it was signalled as good by the umpires. The matter was not raised in the aftermath of Sunday's match at Croke Park nor was attention drawn to it on The Sunday Game.
Michael Delaney, secretary of the Leinster Council, said he had heard nothing about the possibility of an objection from Offaly.
"There hasn't been a word about it," he said, "and I don't think there will be."
There is no mechanism for overturning a match result on the basis of a disputed score. Leinster have experienced a similar scenario nine years ago whensuch a "score" enabled Laois to defeat Carlow. But when Laois offered a refixture, it was sanctioned by the council on the basis that it wouldn't be establishing a precedent.
Offaly chair Tommy Byrne said he wasn't aware of any plans to raise the issue. "We have an executive meeting tomorrow night (Tuesday) but it mightn't even come up. At the moment I haven't heard anything about it."
Galway footballers have a new captain. Declan Meehan will lead the Connacht champions this weekend when they take on London in Ruislip. He takes over from Kevin Walsh, who led the team last year, and Seán de Paor who stood in during the league when Walsh was injured.
Wing back Meehan's club Caltra are the county champions and he was a vital component in their progress to All-Ireland club victory in March and was GPA Player of the Year in 2001 when Galway last won the All-Ireland.
Transformed from a wing forward in the mid 1990s to one of this decade's best and most consistent wing backs, Meehan is, according to Galway manager John O'Mahony, a "great choice".
"Declan has been an inspiration to the team over the past number of years and is a popular choice with the other players," he said.
Kerry full forward John Crowley's knee injury is not expected to rule him out of contention for the Munster semi-final with Cork in Killarney. Crowley had to be replaced after only 20 minutes of the Munster first round against Clare, by which stage he had scored his third goal in two matches for the county.
"He's strained ligaments," according to manager Jack O'Connor, " but we'll know more later in the week. At the moment it doesn't look that serious or long term."
