Special Congress: Ned Quinn, chair of the Hurling Development Committee, announced at Saturday's special congress at Croke Park that the group had decided against sweeping changes that would have seen more knock-out matches introduced, a reduction in the number of qualifier group matches and direct access to the All-Ireland semi-finals for the Munster and Leinster champions.

Frank Murphy, the Cork county secretary, was critical of the retention of the round-robin qualifier system, which he described as "financially disastrous and totally predictable - the eight All-Ireland quarter-finalists could be named now" and proposed that the new format be run on an experimental basis for a year, rather than two years.

After the suspension of standing orders, the proposal was accepted.

One of the side effects of this is that the idea to allow a team from South Dublin enter the NHL in the second year of the original experimental cycle now falls.

Dublin, together with Antrim and Down, opposed the blueprint. As the counties most likely to make way for the formation of a nine-team Division One, their protests ranged from a charge that the new structure would mean "the strong get stronger" (Down chair Gerry Quinn) to a complaint that counties contesting the MacCarthy Cup after hurling in Division Two for the spring would be like "going from second gear to fifth gear or overdrive" (Dublin delegate and well-known hurling coach Michael O'Grady).

O'Grady also called for a nationally based All-Ireland saying, "three of the provincial championships are not working".

National League structures are a matter for Central Council and at an afternoon session in camera that body decided - after arguments from Dublin and Antrim - to defer the implementation of both the football and hurling formats until 2008.

According to Brennan, other proposals would be brought forward at next Easter's annual congress to be held in Kilkenny after extensive consultation with the counties.

A number of technical motions were included on the special congress clár and only one was defeated - a proposal to give organising committees the discretionary power to play extra-time in any match.