"We are close to an agreement, " admitted president Sean Kelly. "An awful lot of the stumbling blocks have been sorted."

The progress is timely given that IRFU officials travel to London on Tuesday for a meeting with the other Six Nations unions to discuss the 2007 fixture list, with Ireland v France pencilled in for Croke Park as Lansdowne Road undergoes redevelopment.

The financial windfall will be welcomed by the GAA in the light of rising inter-county costs. Following on from figures obtained by the Sunday Tribune last week putting the average county board spend on inter-county team expenses at 518,000, a 55 per cent increase in the space of only three seasons, Kelly defended the dramatic rise in costs.

"They have gone up because of the fact that we have put player welfare at the top of the list. There is little sense in complaining if that is what it takes to ensure players are treated properly."

In the light of the pressures on predominantly voluntary county board officials, GPA chief executive Dessie Farrell believes that key board positions should be made full-time, before the issue of semi-professionalism for players is even considered.