Gavin Cummiskey talks to Dublin's Ciarán Whelan as he prepares for another championship campaign with the trip to Longford on Sunday

Every summer a blue and navy Croke Park is responsible for lighting the championship fuse. When in victory Dublin are everyone's darlings; in defeat - like the Westmeath collapse of 2004 - the backlash becomes malicious. With Dublin, people sometimes forget it is an amateur sport.

Ciarán Whelan has been enveloped by the tornado for 11 campaigns. He's been maligned and praised in equal measure. He's experienced so many different dressingrooms. The nervous energy just seconds before emerging from beneath the Hogan Stand into the cacophony; the silence that accompanied so many endgames during the "barren years" of 1996 to 2002. In recent times, a new breed of Dublin footballer has enabled Whelan to taste the euphoria of success.

"I'm quite confident with the players around me, that everyone is there to do a specific job. The six forwards are there to do the attacking. I'll do my job between the two 50s and hopefully everyone does theirs and we'll see where we'll go.

"In fairness we have great quality forwards. You know Alan Brogan, Conal Keaney, Mossie Quinn, Jason Sherlock, Bryan Cullen. I have every confidence in them that they can deliver the scores."

An unfamiliar route comes on Sunday. When the Leinster Council refused to switch the quarter-final back to Croke Park, Longford became the ideal June Bank Holiday destination for Dubliners. Pearse Park will be a sea of blue.

Dublin have ventured outside the Pale before, most famously in 1983 when they accepted an invitation from Cork to play the All-Ireland semi-final replay in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. They won and went on to beat Galway in the final.

"Every Gaelic footballer's dream is to play in Croke Park but you just have to accept these challenges," said Whelan. "We're lucky. We get to play there a good few times a year. We did a 'Discover Ireland' tour a few years ago but there are a good few teams who don't get to play there at all over the course of the championship."

Sacrifice is the word Whelan uses to describe life as an intercounty footballer. It means forgoing the social highlights friends experience during their 20s. He has even turned down opportunities to represent his country in the International Rules series. He sees the current crop of players being spent by 30, as the demands on the modern amateur make it impossible to balance a family and career.

"My wife had a baby there before Christmas and that brings extra demands in itself. Every year gets tougher but the commitment these younger lads have to put in now I think will start to come through in five or six years when a lot of them may pack it in at 28 or 29.

"You get serious rewards out of it - don't get me wrong - it's fantastic and there is a great buzz attached to it but training five, six nights a week for the majority of the year is a huge commitment.

"I don't think (International Rules) is something I would commit to going forward because the focus is playing as long as I can with Dublin. Also, I firmly believe you need a bit of time out as well at the end of the year. I played the International Rules for four years. I enjoyed it. I was lucky enough to be victorious twice but it makes your season very long. It brings you right into November and you're back into it again."

The Dublin build-up has been muted so far but victory on Sunday will more than likely set up a repeat of last year's Leinster final against Laois on June 25th.

"It's been quiet, tame. We're that bit later out but you know with Dublin it can just take off all of a sudden. We're keeping our heads down and staying in the long grass as long as we can."

The time bomb is already ticking.