Dublin 6 is the place to be on the weekend of May 13th/14th as St Mary's and Terenure earned home semi-finals in the AIB All-Ireland League Division One after last Saturday's final matches in the league proper stage of the competition. St Mary's will host Ballymena at Templeville Road while Terenure entertain Lansdowne less than a mile away at Lakelands.
So, for the first time since the inauguration of the All-Ireland League in 1991, Munster will not be represented in the semi-finals. The competition will also have a new winner, from Leinster's three clubs and Ballymena of Ulster.
The accepted premise is that the semi-final between St Mary's and Ballymena will take place on Saturday May 13th while the other match will be staged 24 hours later at Lakelands. The reason for the uncertainty is that the IRFU and RTE must meet, probably today, to discuss the screening of the matches.
The St Mary's match will be transmitted live, possibly with a late kick-off time. But given RTE's commitment to broadcasting the All-Ireland under-21 football final between Tyrone and Limerick next Sunday there is a problem about screening live the Terenure/Lansdowne match.
A decision on the dates, kick-off times and television arrangements is expected by tomorrow at the latest. Last Saturday's matches produced some thrilling climaxes, particularly Ballymena's superb victory over Garryowen at Dooradoyle. Ballymena led 31-3 at one stage before eventually prevailing 44-38.
Lansdowne thrashed Young Munster 55-0 while Terenure secured their place with a late try from prop Stephen Barretto for an 11-10 victory over DLSP. The Kilternan club though were not too displeased as their Division One status was retained when Clontarf lost 40-33 to Shannon.
St Mary's finished top in the league part of the season by virtue of a 42-3 win over defending champions Cork Constitution.
In Division Two, Blackrock, Old Crescent and Belfast Harlequins confirmed promotion to Division One next season.
The final automatic place rests between UCD and Galwegians and will be decided when Galwegians travel to Stradbrook to take on Blackrock on Saturday. Galwegians need to win or draw, otherwise they face a two-leg play-off against Clontarf for the final place in Division One.
Two players from both Buccaneers and Young Munster have been asked to appear before an IRFU hearing into the ugly events that scarred last Saturday week's AIL Division One clash at Clifford Park which was shown live on RTE. The two clubs have also been summoned to explain themselves.
