Brennan to enjoy 'guest' role

The rugby posts are upright, the lines are redrawn and the scoreboard reads Ireland 0 France 0. There's no going back now. As the countdown to rugby and soccer coming to Croke Park concludes, GAA president Nickey Brennan has put some final thoughts on a day some said never would happen. Ian O'Riordanreports.

"Unless you're from outer Mongolia you'll be realising what's happening in Croke Park on Sunday," he said, with the stadium reworking continuing in the background.

"It will be a very significant day for the GAA, there's no point in me saying otherwise. I'm still conscious that this was a tough decision for the GAA to make in the first place, and there is still a constituency out there unhappy with the decision.

"But the decision was made democratically, and it's important we all understand the significance of the day in sporting and historical terms. This is a milestone in Irish life, and few people would have envisioned it even a few years ago. Now there's a level of excitement about it. And I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say about the stadium, all those people that haven't been here before."

The stadium has been undergoing some minor facelifts this week, something Brennan was happy to accommodate given the occasion: "There's been work going on all week, people out there with a bucket of water and brush trying to rub the GAA lines off the field. This place will be in tip-top shape, but we would do it no other way.

"But then we're just renting this stadium . . . for the day. The likes of myself and Liam Mulvihill and other officials are just guests in our stadium. We have no hand, act or part in any of the events surrounding the game. So we can just enjoy the game the same as everybody else, hoping for an Irish win. I think the French will be very impressed. My French is not good so I might have to get some interpretation on that."

Any anxiety the GAA may have had - especially over the new floodlights - was dismissed last Saturday night with the opening National Football League game between Dublin and Tyrone, and that, said Brennan, also marked a significant occasion for the GAA. "We were obviously delighted with last Saturday night. I was also anxious to have a big game under lights here before the rugby and soccer came in, but I think the occasion exceeded all expectations. And on a personal level it was a very humbling experience to actually turn on the lights, and it will be years to come before it fully dawns on me.

"We had great reaction as well. A lot of people came from around the country just to be there. The next event we'll have under lights will be the intermediate and junior finals, and obviously there'll be a much smaller crowd at those. But we will be asking our fixtures people to see if we can get other events in here under the lights. I've said before I'd like to see the colleges and third-level finals here.

"As for more Dublin games that's really a decision for Dublin. If they feel comfortable playing another game here that's always on. But it does start to create some more options in our calendar."

The prospect of this year's league finals being played in Croke Park, however, looks slight, as pitch work is likely to take place ahead of the championship season: "We may have to carry out extensive work on the field. We're a couple of weeks away from that decision. The renovation work has been in the pipeline for some time and has nothing to do with rugby and soccer being played here. We have never denied the fact the pitch continuously needs work, and that may take six to eight weeks, so it's back up to the condition we want, especially for hurling."

To mark Sunday's historic occasion RTÉ will tonight air The Opening Hour, a celebration of Irish rugby and soccer teams playing major internationals at Croke Park.

CORK (NFL v Kerry):P O'Shea; M Shields, D Coughlan, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Spillane, A Jynch; P O'Neill, D Kavanagh; S O'Brien, N Murphy, K McMahon; J Masters, D O'Connor, K O'Sullivan.

OFFALY (NFL v Carlow):P Kelly; E Byrne, J Quinn, N Grennan; P McConway, S Sullivan, Karol Slattery; C McManus, A McNamee; S Brady, N McNamee, S Ryan; J Coughlan, N Coughlan, K Casey.

CAVAN (NFL v Wicklow):J Reilly; M Cahill, A Forde, K Fannin; P Brady, E Reilly, M Brennan; D McCabe, M Cunningham; R Cullivan, M McKeever, L Mulvey; G Pierson, R Gallagher, S Johnston.