Good weather and the absence of the International Rules series have helped keep the club competitions right on schedule, as the last of the county finals are tidied up and the provincial championships are about to take centre-stage.
"All the counties are finished and ready to play," according to Ulster secretary Danny Murphy. "We have the hurling final fixed for the first weekend in November and the football's already up and running."
That's also the date for the football quarter-finals, which were finalised at the weekend by Cavan Gaels' narrow win over St Eunan's. Murphy says the championship promises to be the closest in years. "It's going to be very tight with new clubs like Dromore, who haven't won Tyrone ever before but will take a lot of beating and Glenullin, who haven't been out of Derry for over 20 years. There are also experienced clubs like Mayobridge, who have been very close to winning, and St Gall's who were terribly unlucky not to win last year's All-Ireland."
In Leinster, Murphy's counterpart Michael Delaney's concerns are restricted to one segment of the football draw, involving Dublin, Meath and Wicklow, none of whom have completed their county championships.
"Wicklow have assured us they'll be ready but they've still a semi-final to play whereas Dublin and Meath are at the final stages. Hopefully everything will be finished by November 11th."
Munster's schedules are also unaffected but just about. There have been delays in both Waterford and Kerry football, where a rash of replays and dual entanglements mean the final can't be played until November 11th - luckily from the council's point of view between two divisional teams, South Kerry and Feale Rangers.
"We're fine now," according to provincial chair Jimmy O'Gorman. "Kilcummin are the nominated club representatives from Kerry and the quarter-finals will go ahead on November 11th. Waterford was looking like a problem but the semi-finals will be this weekend."
Waterford's champions aren't due to line out until November 25th, as they have a bye into the provincial semi-finals.
Finally Connacht are well advanced according to provincial secretary John Prenty: "The Galway final is this weekend and we've already played matches in both championships so there's no panic at this stage."
To mark the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the annual hurling and football representative matches between AIB Group and the Defence Forces, the games will this year be played under floodlights in Croke Park. The games are scheduled for October 26th with the hurling at 4pm and the football at 5.30pm.
The AIB hurling squad will feature All Star Michael Walsh from Waterford, James Young of Laois, Brendan Cummins of Tipperary and Cork's Kieran Murphy and Ciarán McGann.
Lining out for the Defence Forces are Eoin Larkin of Kilkenny and All Stars Andrew O'Shaughnessy of Limerick and Waterford's Stephen Molumphy.
AIB's footballers include Colm Cooper of Kerry, Coman Goggins of Dublin, Ger Heneghan of Roscommon, Philip Gallagher of Sligo and Galway's Nicky Joyce and Finian Hanley. Their opponent include Alan Quirke of Cork, Neville Coughlan from Offaly, Seán Armstrong from Galway, Mayo's Fergal Costello and Kildare's Dermot Earley and Pádraig Brennan.
• Cavan's Paul Brady defeated Seattle's Seán Lenning in the US Open of Handball in California on Sunday. Trailing Lenning 10-7 in the tiebreaker, Brady rallied for an 11-10 win to take the $25,000 (€17,500) first-place prize. Lenning showed plenty of stamina and style, but the sheer athleticism of the Cavan footballer Brady was the telling factor in the end.
Cork's Tony Healy, who lost to Brady in the semi-final, will have to be content with his third-place finish after he defeated Californian Naty Alvarado Junior. In the pro doubles, defending champions Vince Munoz and Marcos Chavez beat Mayo's Dessie Keegan and Galway's Noel McHugh, 21-13, 21-18 in the semi-final.
