Venues confirmed for Leinster Championship

The Leinster Council has stayed true to the GAA's word that more championship matches should be staged away from Croke Park.

At a meeting of the council last night, it was decided that the majority of Leinster's football and hurling championship matches for 2006 will be held outside of headquarters. Indeed, the only hurling fixture set for the 83,000-capacity Croke Park will be July's final.

The opening round of the province's hurling championship will see Offaly play Laois in Portlaoise, with the winners to face Wexford at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny.

In the other half of the draw, which was performed last Friday, Westmeath will clash with Dublin with Portlaoise again the venue, and a 'home' date against champions Kilkenny for the winners.

In the football championship, champions Dublin, having played 21 championship matches at Croke Park since the start of the 2001 campaign, will begin on the road too.

A council vote of 25-2 has seen the Dubs handed a trip to the 18,000-capacity Pearse Park for their first round tie with Longford. It will be Longford's first home fixture in the championship since 2000, a boost for the midlanders after they spent €2m upgrading Pearse Park.

The sides clashed in the first round last summer at Croke Park. Dublin ran out easy 2-23 to 0-10 winners in front of 41,000 spectators.

Elsewhere in the Leinster SFC, the Wicklow v Carlow tie will be played at Wexford Park, with the winners scheduled to face Laois at 'a provincial venue' to be decided.

The venue choices are heightened in significance considering that nine of the 10 fixtures in the 2005 Leinster Football Championship were played at Croke Park this year.