Leinster Council forced to stage a triple-bill

The Leinster Council have announced they have again had to postpone the provincial football semi-final between Offaly and Wexford in response to the uncertainty concerning the Kildare-Offaly dispute, which is to be heard by the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) this week.

The fixture, which was due to be played this weekend, had been put back to form a double bill with the Dublin-Laois semi-final on June 25th, but it has been deferred a further week and the semi-final, regardless of whether it's Kildare or Offaly who progress, will be played as part of a triple-bill at Croke Park on the day of the Leinster hurling finals.

This is a rare departure for the province. It's 15 years since the Leinster Council were forced to stage a football match on the same bill as the hurling finals.

In 1991, Meath and Wicklow replayed on the same afternoon as the Dublin-Kilkenny provincial hurling final. The championship was running well behind schedule due to the four-match Dublin-Meath preliminary-round saga.

This decision means Dublin and Laois will be a stand-alone fixture on Sunday week. This is good news for armchair followers who would otherwise have been denied television coverage of the match, as had the double bill gone ahead it was scheduled to clash with the Munster hurling final.

In those circumstances, RTÉ would have broadcast either Wexford-Offaly or - more probably - the Armagh-Fermanagh replay as the early match. Instead, Laois and Dublin will throw in at 2pm and be televised in tandem with the Cork-Tipperary match from Thurles.

"We feel we must revert to a single semi-final," said Leinster secretary Michael Delaney. "There isn't enough time remaining to wait any longer before proceeding with match arrangements. We have to get tickets out and they're on the system waiting to be printed. The DRA won't be meeting until later this week and nobody knows what the outcome of that will be."

Earlier, it was confirmed the All-Ireland first-round qualifier between Cavan and whoever is deemed to have lost between Kildare and Offaly has been postponed pending clarification on the controversial six replacements made by Offaly during the Leinster quarter-final of two weeks ago.

It is equally unclear what the scope of the DRA decision will be: whether, if it finds in favour of Kildare, will it order a rematch or even forfeiture?

Should a rematch be required, it will be played this coming Sunday in Portlaoise.

Meanwhile, Monaghan manager Séamus McEnaney has a number of injury concerns ahead of this weekend's All-Ireland qualifier against Wicklow. Among those requiring treatment are Vincent Corey (hamstring), Hugh McElroy (groin), Paul McGuigan (groin), Raymond Ronaghan (ankle), Kieran Tavey (hamstring), Paul Finlay (knee). Martin Corey (knee) and Shane Smyth (elbow) are definitely ruled out with long-term injuries.

The president of the GAA, Nickey Brennan, has expressed his sympathies and those of the association to the family and friends of the late Bobby Miller who passed away at the weekend. Miller, a former intercounty footballer and manager, was highly respected within the GAA and the president said his record with Laois, Carlow, Leinster and a succession of club sides, including the great Éire Óg team of the 1990s, was testament to his abilities as a manager and the deep love he had for Gaelic Games.

The president also said the thoughts of the entire GAA community were with the family of Jason Gilligan, from Ballyfin, Co Laois, a promising footballer and hurler. He said such tragedies put other issues pertaining to Gaelic games into perspective and asked that members of the association remember the families in their prayers.

Bobby Miller's removal will be this evening, arriving at St Evan's Church, Killeen, at 7.30pm. His funeral Mass will be celebrated tomorrow at 11am.