Páirc Uí Chaoimh may not be available for GAA action until Cork hurlers’ Munster SHC Round 1 game against Clare.

Met the proverbial — and in this case corporeal — man in the street the day before the league quarter-finals. The man in the street in question is a keen punter, often to be espied going in and out of his local Ladbrokes.

There are questions. And then there are the leading questions, more important even than the Five Things We Learned. Here’s 40 head-scratchers in advance of today’s Croke Park shenanigans.

Derek McGrath hears them knocking — but they can’t come in.

Waterford county board chairman Paddy Joe Ryan assured delegates at last night’s convention at Lawlors Hotel, Dungarvan, that the end of the club levy is in sight and that spending on county teams will be carefully monitored.

Munster SHC fi nal

Down Syndrome Ireland paid tribute to a fundraiser who died in a motorcycle crash in Co Clare, the Department of Agriculture is on alert in case deadly Asian hornets arrive in Ireland, the society wedding of the year took place over the weekend and is there something special happening with the Waterford hurlers? These are some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

Lately in the pages of this newspaper, you may have seen a lengthy interview with Jim Nolan, the Waterford playwright.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice will be the new coach to the Kerry footballers.

It’s been a productive and encouraging few years for the Wexford footballers but such progress raises expectations and Ben Brosnan admitted it Jason Ryan’s men will be disappointed with anything less than a Leinster title.

Even Socrates regretted not getting to close the deal with the most beautiful woman in the world. But as he said, it can happen, and he could always say he at least got to dance with her

WATERFORD corner-back Eoin Murphy was released from hospital yesterday after fracturing his skull in a club match last Friday night.

AS satisfying as it was watching Ireland’s masterly display last Saturday, there was a nagging sense of frustration too.

The Waterford hurlers got their 2010 campaign off to a winning start as they ran out comfortable 1-26 to 1-11 winners over Cork IT.

WE HAD the Haka in Croke Park on Saturday as more history was made at Jones Road with the arrival of the famous All Blacks. Unfortunately, I had to miss the game as I was honouring a commitment to attend a very special function in the Hospital Herbertstown club in Limerick.

GOOD FENCES make good neighbours. For Robert Frost, maybe. In Waterford and Kilkenny there’s no such thing as a barrier. Not when you have a Waterford man helping to sponsor the Kilkenny hurlers, and a Kilkenny hurler helping to dress the Waterford hurlers. Michael Moynihan tries to make sense of it.

Gary Hurney, captain of the county's footballers, will make his championship debut for the Waterford hurlers in their Munster SHC opener against Clare on Sunday (Gaelic Grounds, throw-in 2pm).

DUBLIN and Meath are sticking to their guns ahead of today’s meeting to re-fix their Allianz Football League games against Cork.

ONE week on and Dan Shanahan is still feeling the pain of losing to Cork in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody has insisted on "closed doors" training sessions for his side as they step up their preparations for their All-Ireland SHC semi-final showdown with Galway on August 21.

Ken McGrath has travelled a winding road with Waterford for almost a decade. Michael Moynihan discovered why he still enjoys the journey, despite the injury worry hanging over him this week.

THE Waterford hurlers had good reason to feel optimistic about their prospects when the draw for the Guinness Munster SHC was made.