The first reaction to last night's draws for the provincial championships is how limiting the format looks in these days of qualifiers and All-Ireland quarter-finals.

There are only so many permutations even in the large football championships of Ulster and Leinster, but for the smaller championships the effect is like staring at a freeze frame.

For all that, there will be a great deal of interest in the 2006 Munster hurling championship, which looks wide open and throws All-Ireland champions Cork together with Clare, the side that they edged out by only a point in August's All-Ireland semi-final.

Once again Tipperary, now under new manager Babs Keating, face Limerick. This year the teams played out two matches before Tipp got through. Should they do so again, the championship will be a repeat of the 2003 semi-finals with Waterford taking on Tipperary and Cork-Clare.

Meanwhile, in Leinster, the odds are on a fifth Kilkenny-Wexford final in six years. Still, Offaly manager John McIntyre will be glad to get a chance to upset those odds through playing Wexford - should his team repeat their 2004 defeat of Laois - rather than through Kilkenny, who butchered them back in June.

The preliminary round sees Dublin play this year's Ring Cup winners Westmeath, who are promoted to the Liam MacCarthy.

September's All-Ireland finalists Galway won't enter the fray until the qualifier rounds begin in June.

Football's draw had already been kick-started by the Ulster Council doing their own thing last month and drawing All-Ireland champions Tyrone with their umpteenth championship match in recent times (well, seventh in six years - including 2002's qualifier) against neighbours Derry.

Last night's completion of the draw provided All-Ireland finalists Kerry with the easier side of the draw in Munster, with matches against Waterford and Tipperary barring their progress to an 11th provincial final in 12 years. The other side is interesting in that it gives Limerick's new manager, former Kerry player and manager Mickey Ned O'Sullivan, a tough route against Clare and then possibly renew acquaintance with Billy Morgan's Cork.

The draw will evoke contrasting memories for O'Sullivan. Back in the early 1990s his Kerry sides played Cork three years running, with the latter visiting a record 15-point defeat on Kerry in 1990 before O'Sullivan spectacularly turned the tables a year later as Cork chased an All-Ireland three-in-a-row.

In 1992, he took Kerry to Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the championship and saw his side hammer Morgan's team by 10 points. It was O'Sullivan's last year in charge, as his team went down to a sensational defeat by Clare in that year's Munster final - an issue he can revisit in next year's first round.

Leinster's draw puts champions Dublin and runners-up Laois on the same side, where they are scheduled to meet in the semi-finals. Like this year, Dublin start their campaign with a match against Longford.

Westmeath will start their championship as they did in 2004 with a match against Offaly, against whom a first victory in 55 years set them up for the county's first Leinster title. Should they again win, there will be an opportunity to seek redress from Kildare, who dethroned them last June.

Connacht promises an interesting championship with Roscommon buoyant after the appointment of John Maughan as manager. The former Mayo boss will have to overcome fellow county man Peter Ford, who is in charge of defending champions Galway, if he is to get the opportunity to play Coriolanus and sack his own county.

Ulster's hurling championship will be played against the backdrop of no Ulster team being specifically eligible for the MacCarthy Cup after Antrim's relegation last year. The champions will, however, get an opportunity to access the senior championship - an opportunity declined by Down this year.