St Brigid's to be at full strength for semi-final

Dublin champions St Brigid's will be at full strength this weekend after the Leinster Council deemed that there had been "no case proven" against one of the St Brigid's players in respect of an incident at the end of the quarter-final victory over St Patrick's of Louth.

Accordingly no further action will be taken.

The issue arose after the quarter-final when St Patrick's lodged a complaint that an opposing player had assaulted one of their team officials. Subsequent attempts to have the complaint merely noted and then withdrawn failed when the provincial council judged that the matter was in the public arena and would have to be dealt with.

At the same meeting last night, All-Ireland club hurling champions Birr failed in their application to have next Sunday week's provincial final deferred.

Despite the club's history of never previously having sought a postponement, it was decided that the championship programme should proceed as planned.

Birr's Johnny Pilkington will be abroad working on the weekend of the final and the club had hoped his presence might be facilitated by putting off the final against Kilkenny champions O'Loughlin Gaels until the following week, December 7th - a date that would mean clashing with the provincial football final.

Arles-Kilcruise were also unsuccessful in their attempt to get a postponement of a week in respect of Sunday's provincial football semi-final against Round Towers from Kildare.

It will be a third match in eight days for the Laois champions who, a day after winning their first county title, defeated former Leinster champions O'Hanrahans last Sunday.

The council felt, however, that the championship had already been postponed by a fortnight to accommodate the late resolution of the Laois championship and that further delay would be inadvisable.

Meanwhile, the Connacht Council has drawn up its fixture list for next year's championship. Mayo will travel to Gaelic Park in New York to face the locals on May 2nd, whereas three weeks later their likely semi-final opponents, Galway, make the trip to Ruislip for the first time in four years to face London.

Assuming the big two survive, they will meet in the semi-final at Castlebar on June 27th.

Finally Louth veteran Séamus O'Hanlon has announced his retirement from intercounty football. He made his debut with Louth in 1985 and at 35, as he told RTÉ Radio yesterday, has spent more than half his life playing with the county.

"At the beginning of last year I said I'd give it one more year. Unfortunately it didn't turn out as I would have wished."

This was a reference to his last championship match, against Dublin, when he was sent off.

One of the best centrefielders of the 1990s, O'Hanlon won Railway Cup medals with Leinster in 1996 and 1997.

Connacht SFC 2004

May 2nd: Mayo v New York, Gaelic Park,

May 23rd: Roscommon v Sligo, Hyde Park,

May 30th: London v Galway, Ruislip,

June 20th: Leitrim v Roscommon/Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon,

June 27th: Mayo/New York v Galway, Castlebar,

July 18th: Final, venue tba.