Delaney unfazed at Leinster's All-Ireland exclusion

Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney says there is no immediate alarm at the failure of the province's counties in this year's All-Ireland senior and minor championships. For the first time since the under-18 grade was introduced in 1928 Leinster will not be represented on either All-Ireland final day next month.

"We would see this as a matter of swings and roundabouts and we're not concerned about it just yet, but obviously we would prefer to be involved. In particular, I'd hate to think that our minor standards are slipping.

"We have had some very entertaining matches, but entertaining football isn't always winning football. None of our football teams are in the top three and the way the draw worked out militated against them getting into the semi-finals."

With the All-Ireland draw pairing off Leinster and Ulster, it meant the big Northern teams Armagh and Tyrone were likely to block the way to even a last-four place - and so it proved, with Laois and then Dublin biting the dust.

One notable aspect of the Leinster football championship in recent years is that it has become far more competitive, whereas the Ulster championship has gone in the other direction.

For 30 years (1969-1998) only Dublin, Offaly and Meath won Leinster titles. In that same period all of the Ulster teams had a go at their provincial title, the exceptions being Antrim and Fermanagh.

Since then, Armagh and Tyrone have won all Ulster minor football titles except one, whereas the Leinster trophy has been to five counties, including first-time winners Westmeath and Laois, who won the title for the first time in 57 years.

Has greater democracy weakened the elite at national levels?

"Possibly," says Delaney, "but there has been considerable effort put into coaching and preparation over recent years and you can see the effect of that on Westmeath, Laois and, to a lesser extent, Wexford.

"But there is evidence that we aren't competing with the best Ulster counties. We've also seen how Laois and Westmeath have been happy to win their provincial titles but not driven like the Clare hurlers in 1995 to set their sights higher once they achieved that."

Delaney feels the coaching revolution in the North has had a major impact in the two dominant counties.

"Tyrone and Armagh appear to have far more intense underage structures. They're so organised in Tyrone at under-16 and under-15 level that the players come together for sustained training. Our counties' development squads at that age would only be meeting the odd weekend."

Hurling has posed the opposite problem for Leinster. There has been little competition in the province, but an outstanding leading county in Kilkenny. This year, the only presence Leinster have in any of the major inter-county All-Irelands is Kilkenny's in next month's under-21 hurling final. Dublin's under-21 footballers were eliminated by runners-up Down in the semi-final.

Delaney remains unperturbed about long-term prospects.

"We could do with Meath becoming competitive again, because that would put more bite into Dublin and raise standards.

"We have to realise that Kerry will always be somewhere near the top, but the Ulster counties may struggle when their current teams have gone."