Munster and Leinster clubs to clash in Thurles
The hurling semi-finals will be played on February 15 and the football equivalents a week later. Referees for the games have been appointed but not yet announced and the Games Administration Committee will decide on the venues at the weekend.
Thurles is viewed as the natural choice for the meeting of Cork champions Newtownshandrum and O'Loughlin Gaels of Kilkenny on February 15, a game almost certain to decide the destination of the trophy.
The other semi-final will involve Galway champions Portumna and Dunloy, the latter being the sole team of the four to have previously participated at this stage of the competition.
The game is expected to be fixed for Dublin, more than likely Parnell Park, where past games involving Ulster sides have been played.
Competition in the football championship is even more intense, with any one of the four teams competing in the All-Ireland series for the first time possessing the credentials to succeed Nemo Rangers as champions.
Kerry and Munster representatives An Ghaeltacht play St Brigid's and on the other side The Loop from Derry face Galway side Caltra.
The newly-redeveloped Gaelic Grounds in Limerick would be ideal for supporters of the West Kerry side who would face a 200-mile round trip from Ventry.
However, Limerick have a home game that day in the National Hurling League and so Thurles is the likely choice for the game. It would also be a shorter journey for St Brigid's fans.
Picking a venue for the Caltra/The Loop game may not be so easy. Two possible choices are Markievicz Park in Sligo and Kingspan Park in Cavan.
Meanwhile, Offaly player Brendan Murphy was yesterday named as a replacement for next week's Vodafone GAA All Stars tour to the US, joining Clare's Tony Griffin and Mitch Jordan from Wexford who have also received late call-ups for the trip.
Other replacements for players who declined the invitation to travel for a variety of reasons include Waterford's Paul Flynn, Wexford veteran Liam Dunne, Mark Foley from Limerick and Antrim's Ciaran Herron.
Kilkenny captain D.J. Carey, along with the Clare pair Brian Lohan and Colin Lynch, and several Cork players currently on tour in Vietnam, all miss the trip to Phoenix, Arizona. The main focus will be a game between the 2003 and 2002 All Star selections.
It will be the first time an official GAA tour visits the state of Arizona, which adjoins California, on the west coast of America. The party, led by Association President Sean Kelly and Director-General Liam Mulvihill, will also spend two days in Las Vegas.
Eleven members of the all-conquering Kilkenny squad will travel and will be joined by their team manager Brian Cody who takes charge of the 2003 selection. Cyril Lyons, manager of the Clare team which reached the All-Ireland final in 2002, also travels and takes charge of the All Stars from that year.
The referee for the game will be Pat O'Connor from Limerick, who handled last year's All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Cork.
The party will fly out from Dublin Airport next Wednesday, January 21st, en route for Atlanta.
The exhibition game, being held at the Scottsdale Community College, is said to be attracting a lot of interest amongst the large Irish community in the city and among followers in California, New York and Boston.
Meanwhile the system used for deciding home and away fixtures in the National Football League has sparked unrest in many counties.
A series of anomalies in the fixtures programme has left 11 counties with a distinct advantage over their rivals for a second successive year. They have been granted home venues for four of their seven divisional games again this year, while another 11 will play four away ties for the second successive year.
The remaining 10 have a more balanced schedule, alternating between four home and three away and vice versa for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
The schedule is prepared by a random computer programme and according to GAC secretary Sean O Laoire, is the first of a two-year cycle which will be reversed next year to ensure that all counties get an even spread of home and away games.
"This is the start of a new cycle. The fixtures will be reversed in 2005 to ensure that counties get an even spread over two years," he said.
"I accept many counties face four away games for a second successive year, but there wasn't anything that could be done about it. Relegation and promotion distort the programme when it comes to making fixtures, but every effort is made to ensure that over a period of years, all counties get an even spread."
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