Dooley and Duignan decide to retire from Offaly panel

Both Joe Dooley and Michael Duignan have informed Offaly manager Michael Bond that they are retiring from the senior hurling panel. Dooley (37), had already put a question mark over his future with Offaly hurling while Duignan is withdrawing from the panel because of increased work commitments.

Between them, they have won five All-Ireland hurling medals, with Dooley's first coming in 1985, and then together they were successful in 1994 and 1998. Dooley was an All Star winner in 1998 and was on the Offaly team that won the league in 1991.

Last Sunday, Dooley lined out with Seir Kieran in the delayed Offaly county hurling final against Birr and the defeat there was widely expected to mark the end of his career.

He has provided 19 years' service to the county since making his senior debut against Westmeath on Easter Monday, 1982, and last weekend's game was his 13th county final appearance, including replays.

"We invited Joe to come back on the panel because he was in very good shape after doing so much hurling in preparation for the county final," said Bond.

"But he hasn't had a break now in a very long while. In that regard, the news is more or less what we expected.

"The situation with Michael was a little different because he is finding it very difficult to get the time, and physically it just wasn't possible for him to go on.

"That shows once again how difficult it is for an amateur player to put in the necessary work now demanded in this game."

Duignan, who plays with St Rynagh's, made his championship debut against Dublin in 1988 and he was a regular feature of the Offaly forwards in the first rounds of this winter's league - including the last outing with Limerick.

The county panel last night had their first training session as a group in over a month in preparation for Sunday's league tie with Meath. And there was at least some good news for Bond in that none of the Birr or Seir Kieran players have picked up injuries from last Sunday's game.

Meanwhile, Dublin's Colin Moran is among a number of players with a busy weekend ahead of him. Moran will line out with the Dublin under-21 side for Saturday's Leinster semi-final against Kildare in Mullingar.

It is then expected that he will be part of the senior team's trip to Killarney on Sunday for the much-delayed league tie with Kerry.

A holiday ban has been placed on the Wexford footballers as they continue their preparations for their opening-round Leinster senior football championship game with Laois.

Further stunning news for the Wexford football camp is that Leinster Railway Cup player Scott Doran has opted out of the squad just weeks before their opening championship tie.

Final details were announced yesterday of the Irish Under-17 International Rules team's tour to Australia in April.

Three test matches against Australia have been lined up, starting with two games in the Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 12th and April 16th, and the remaining game in the Fremantle Oval in Perth on April 19th.

Pat Daly, the GAA's games development officer, has been named tour manager and the team selectors are Eugene Lavin (Mayo), Declan Rowley (Longford), PJ McGowan (Donegal) and Dave Loughman (Limerick).

A Connacht Colleges football team of 30 players from 28 schools throughout the province will also travel to Australia later in the month to play games in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Ireland Under-17 International Rules squad (v Australia): I Barrett (Galway), P Brady (Cavan), N Collins (Derry), R Convery (Derry), B Cullen (Dublin), C de Paor (Galway), P Doherty (Antrim), J Doyle (Louth), B Flynn (Wicklow), C Forde (Mayo), D Gordon (Mayo), M McKeever (Cavan), C McKendrick (Galway), M Meehan (Galway), P Moran (Galway), P Mulvihill (Westmeath), W Mur- ray (Longford), D Murtagh (Meath), T O'Connor (Meath), G O'Grady (Wexford), D O'Loughlin (Laois), D O'Mahony (Dublin), V Quigley (Wicklow), S Ryan (Tipperary), S Joseph (Meath), P Young (Derry).

KERRY (Under-21 FC v Cork): K Cremin; D Donegan, J Cahillane, R O'Connor; S O'Sullivan, A O'Mahony, M O Se; S Scanlon, K O'Connor; R O'Connor, E Brosnan, S O'Sullivan; D Quill, R O'Connor, K Lynch. Subs: H Murphy, G Walsh, J Kelly, O Favier, F O'Sullivan, J O'Connor, P Galvin, D Long, D Kiely.

KERRY (SF v Dublin): D O'Keeffe; M Hassett, S Moynihan, M McCarthy; T O Se, E Fitzmaurice, K Scanlon; D O Se, D Daly, D O'Dwyer, M Fitzgerald, B Sheehan; MF Russell, D O Cinneide, A MacGearailt. Subs: P O'Leary, N Kennelly, M Lyons, T O'Sullivan, K Dillon, W Kirby, T Griffin, E Galvin, D Moloney.