Football under lights will become a realistic option in Munster within the next six months. Plans are at an advanced stage for the installation of floodlights at either Austin Stack Park in Tralee or Michael Cusack Park in Ennis. A decision is expected within weeks.

The matter has been under discussion for some time and a decision in principle has already been taken. The development is expected to cost in the region of £150,000 and could be in place before Easter.

The Munster Council has, through its president, Noel Walsh, confirmed that the plans have reached an advanced stage. "A final decision about the location has yet to be taken, but we want to be sure that the ground which we will choose will be close to a centre of population - within walking distance - and both Stack Park and Cusack Park are suitable.

"We believe that we have drifted behind soccer and rugby as far as such facilities are concerned. We have looked at several grounds where these facilities have been installed and have decided the GAA should not be without such facilities.

"We are quite happy that the development would be beneficial for football and that the expenditure would prove to be worthwhile. We were quite surprised to find that the cost of the lighting itself would be quite cheap - about £30 for an hour - and the major outlay would be in putting in the system," he said.

Of course, playing hurling under lights would pose different problems from football and, for the moment, football only would be targeted. "The playing of matches in the National Football League in winter conditions on Friday or Saturday night would benefit everyone. It would help to free up grounds for hurling on Sundays, for a start.

"In addition, there is the attraction of the atmosphere which matches under lights would create. There would be great interest for young people in going to a night match on a Friday or Saturday night before going to a disco or a pub or whatever else. In the Munster Council we are confident that this would be a pilot scheme and that other parts of the country would follow our lead," Walsh said. Two specialist international firms have been consulted and, once the decision has been made in regard to the location, the facility could be in place in less than a month.