Paul Curran is the longest-serving, and at 31, the oldest player on the current Dublin panel. His career spans three decades. Having made his championship debut in 1989 he has - with one exception in 1991 - been an automatic selection ever since. Three times an All Star, he was Texaco Footballer of the Year in 1995 when Dublin won the All-Ireland, and travelled to Australia for the 1990 International Rules series. He captains the county in the absence of Dessie Farrell.

How do you see the county shaping up in this year's championship?

"It's been a funny year for us. We've been getting a lot of confidence from watching other teams being beaten rather than from anything we've been doing ourselves. The All-Ireland champions are gone and I think the whole country got a lift. Now the media spotlight is on us. If Meath hadn't been beaten, no one would be writing us up. We've the guts of a good side and I think it only needs a (National) League or a Leinster title to get us off the ground."

Yet Dublin looked terribly off the pace in last year's Leinster final.

"We've looked at last year since. Ollie Murphy scored 1-5 from play against us but he was on fire all year. He scored a crucial goal in the All-Ireland final even though he was injured. We were still in that match with 15 or 20 minutes to go.

"The question is whether we've learned. You saw the good, the bad and the ugly from us against Wexford. Level at four points each after 28 minutes wasn't good. Then we got the goal and pulled away, went asleep again and finally pulled away again."

Your own recent seasons have been disrupted by injury. How are you this year?

"This year, everything's cleared up and I'm feeling quite good. It can be hard to convince yourself that you can get up and down the field as much as you used to, say in '94 and '95. I was fine for the first half against Wexford but I didn't really try too much in the second half. There's no sense in putting the body through it when you don't have to."

This is the third decade in which you have played for Dublin.

"It's been a very quick 11 years. I can't believe I'm the oldest on the panel. Things change very quickly. I'm still enjoying it and I think if this team can win a title, there'll be a huge difference in confidence, maybe some of the old Dublin arrogance would come back."

Is there anything to suggest that Dublin will be better this summer?

"This year is very different to last year. We qualified for the league final but lost our last two matches. This year we didn't win through but we won our last three matches. Since losing to Roscommon after Christmas, we're actually unbeaten. It's given us a little consistency."

Isn't one of the big problems that the attack hasn't given a convincing champion- ship performance against serious opposition since 1995?

"I can't actually remember one myself. But we've still big names. Ian Robertson's back, Jason Sherlock is going well. This is the first year that Jason has dedicated himself to Gaelic, and he trained pre-season with us and maybe that's showing. He kicked three points against Wexford - and he's never done that in a Dublin jersey before - and made another 1-3."

If fit would you be interested in playing International Rules for Ireland again?

"I definitely won't be. Colm (O'Rourke) phoned me about it before and I told him that my work takes off in September and October. Unfortunately. But I don't think I'd be interested anyway. The county's the most important thing, I'm not really interested in the extras."

Does that include club activity with Thomas Davis?

"I miss a lot of club football because of work. They understand that. There's a lot of young players on the team now and we're trying to get out of Division Two. When I'm available, I give it everything but I'm not available all the time.

"I came into it when we were a solid club but not really contenders for the championship. Then we did well at minor, brought a few into the senior side and went on to win three in a row in the county. It was non-stop. We won Leinster, reached an All-Ireland. Now we're relegated. But it's a new team and it's the younger players' time. It's not my time any more."

So you won't be unwinding as a club player into the future?

"When Paul Curran gives up Dublin, he gives up the lot. I'm not going to be playing intermediate with the club when I'm 39. I'm going to need a replacement hip before I'm 40. It's a condition I have, nothing to do with playing. As soon as I feel it's time to go, I'll go."