The deliberations of the assorted egos across the country's 48 senior clubs could, as history has shown us, produce any kind of an conceivable outcome before AISCRA go back to the IRFU, but if they could somehow manage to leave selfinterest to one side and approach the entire issue in some manner of neutral stance, they'd realise that they have an unparalleled opportunity to make the club game relevant to the professional era.

The future of the AIB League needs to be looked at in the context of the state that European rugby currently finds itself in.

The clubs of France and England have laid down their desires and are standing their ground in a bitter fight with the rugby unions of Europe. The Heineken Cup, the only professional tournament in Irish rugby really worth worrying about, may not take place next season, which, if we're honest about it, leaves the professional game here in complete and utter disarray.

Last Saturday down in Cork, we got a glimpse of the potential future. It wasn't pretty or particularly interesting. Munster faced the Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park and while the home side put out as much of a first-choice side as was physically possible, the game was error-strewn and dreary overall, with the quality of rugby low and the niggle element high. That last factor could be put down to the sheer frustration of a handful of highly-strung players on each side who just couldn't cope, it seemed, with playing in a game that had no relevance whatsoever.

As for the 4,000 Munster supporters who showed up for the fixture, most passed the time chatting to the person beside them rather than actually watching the action that was going on right in front of their noses. It was like the fella who leaves the television on the background while he reads the paper, just for a bit of a company. You might point out that this lack of spectator interest is down to the fact that Munster haven't, for a long time now, been in contention to win the Magners League title but even that enticement doesn't automatically change people's minds. Leinster are neck and neck with Cardiff and the Ospreys for the title as we write but nobody in the capital seems to be getting too excited about it, neither players nor fans. Even the Leinster publicity people know that the Magners League doesn't get punters going. Last night's crucial fixture against the Borders was billed as the 'Donnybrook Farewell' rather than the must-win game for Leinster that it was.

The strange thing is that the AIB League, much maligned as it is, has something that the Mangers League doesn't and may never have, namely, people care about it. Last Saturday at Temple Hill, two-and-a-half hours before Munster played the Dragons a couple of miles away, Cork Constitution played UL Bohemians in the AIB League Division One semi-final. We're constantly told that the club game is dead in this country but it was showing all the vital signs last weekend. The 700 or so supporters who turned up at Temple Hill were treated to a fixture that grabbed the attention from first minute to last. As you probably know, Con won out in the end thanks to a late Cronan Healy try and although it was a little harsh on Bohs, the gripping finale was a fitting end to an absorbing contest. Contrast that with the Magners League game later that evening and it's almost embarrassing. The club match was by far a better spectacle because it meant something. If we take that one step further and pretend that this was a regular season league match between two mid-table sides, there still would have been something at stake, whether it was the crowd from Limerick wanting to beat the crowd from Cork, or vice versa.

As for the Dragons versus Munster, what does that mean to anybody?

Ponder next season's worst case scenario, if you will, with no Heineken Cup around to dilute the taste of the Magners League. What would you prefer to watch, Ireland's batch of professional players going through the motions against outfits from Wales and Scotland or these players, about 120 of them, divided between 10 Irish clubs playing in a highly competitive All Ireland League? We certainly know what we'd prefer to be writing about and it's not the league sponsored by Clonmel's finest.

Of course, the IRFU are hardly likely to make the AIB League their second tier of professional rugby, no matter how appetising that might be, but the clubs still have a vital role to play in the Irish game. Even in its current guise, the league is cared about and the powers that be in clubs around the country need to realise how rare a commodity that is. The opportunity now exists to turn the club game into the genuine third tier of Irish rugby, a breeding ground for the players of tomorrow, those players on the fringe of their provincial squads and professional players on their way back from injury.

The only way this can happen is with a 10 or 12-team first division.

It's time for the clubs to think big. Or the IRFU to do it for them.