With the Hurling Development Committee's proposals for a new-look championship receiving the anticipated approval from delegates, it was left to GAA president Nickey Brennan to provide one of the few talking points of the day with his call for the development of a new stadium in the capital. Such a venue, with floodlights, corporate box and premium facilities and possibly a roof, was required to help cater for "the evergrowing population areas of the commuter belts of Meath, Louth and Kildare" and to host schools' and colleges' games as well as national fixtures, he asserted.

The need for the stadium was compounded by the recent extensive use of Croke Park, which, Brennan pointed out, has handled 31 separate events to date this year, a level of activity he claimed "cannot be sustained". In addition, he went on, the Croke Park pitch will as a matter of course require a significant level of reconstruction over the next five years. "We have to be realistic and prudent as to the boundaries our hospitality can extend to, even in the period while Lansdowne Road is being developed."

While supporting the notion some counties should sell their grounds and move to new locations on the outskirts of towns, the president warned the economics relating to the capacity of any redevelopments should be seriously thought out. "Our association has not adequately managed the strategic redevelopment of county grounds in the past and I remain sceptical as to our ability to do so again in the coming years, " he said.

Delegate approval for the proposals to revamp the hurling championship means, from 2008, the Munster and Leinster champions will go into the All Ireland semi-finals, as was the case up to 2004.

"This will eliminate the meaningless matches we've had in the qualifiers in the last couple of years and make for a more meaningful All Ireland championship, " promised HDC chairman Ned Quinn.