The National League football and hurling finals will be played at provincial grounds in 2008 as Croke Park will be out of commission for more than nine weeks due to essential remedial work required on the surface that has come in for regular criticism in recent years, writes Gavin Cummiskey

The last GAA matches before the work on the pitch begins will be the All-Ireland club finals on March 17th, ending a busy period of activity at Croke Park that includes three Six Nations rugby internationals.

The FAI have an international friendly on March 26th with the reopening being Dublin against Louth in the Leinster football championship on June 8th. The stadium also stages a Westlife concert on June 1st.

GAA president Nickey Brennan stated the decision was a "once-off" on the advice of pitch consultants at the Sports Turf Research Institute.

Venues for the football (April 27th) and hurling (April 20th) league finals have yet to be decided.

The busiest period for GAA headquarters remains the August Bank Holiday weekend with the finals of the Christy Ring Cup, Nicky Rackard Cup and Tommy Murphy Cup all scheduled to take place during those few days.

Round three of the All-Ireland football qualifiers are also fixed for that weekend and - depending on the competing counties - may also be fixed for Croke Park.

Brennan admitted a string of high-profile draws cannot be planned for. "When you have a series of draws, games have to be played on a week after week basis. It is impossible to run a system like that.

"I challenge anybody to come up with a solution to that. I believe we have never come up with a better system than the present one."

Brennan also pointed to the Wembley surface for last Wednesday's soccer international between England and Croatia as further evidence that the GAA must ensure the problems experienced in recent seasons are avoided in 2008.

"We would still be happy (with the pitch). We sat down with STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) and took a thorough look at what is needed to be done. The STRI wanted another window of opportunity."

He went on to describe several "smaller renovation tasks" being better than one large operation.

In defending the pitch surface in 2006, stadium director Peter McKenna recommended players do not use blades, rather six studded boots with adjustable lengths depending on the weather.

"Blades are used by soccer players. We're not trying to make excuses, but there are contributing factors. It is an organic surface, a natural pitch, and, depending on different weather conditions, it can be so-so."

The process of verti-draining, whereby spikes are inserted deep into the sod, can now be employed as the extended timeframe allows the large holes a sufficient period of recovery. This wouldn't normally occur until after the All-Ireland finals in October.

Meanwhile, the GAA released their master fixture list for 2008 yesterday. The gap between the Munster football champions playing in the All-Ireland quarter-final is six weeks (June 29th to August 10th), but this decision was attributed to the provincial council who set the schedule for their own competition. The final is usually in early July.

No provision was made in the fixtures for an International Rules Series or the interprovincial championship - although Brennan defended this year's interprovincial competition by noting 200,000 people watched the finals on RTÉ television.

The central competitions control committee are currently "reviewing" the future of the interpros.

The opening championship - Sunday, May 11th - sees New York host Leitrim in Gaelic Park, two Ulster hurling fixtures and Longford meeting Westmeath in the Leinster senior football championship at Pearse Park.