GAELIC GAMES: The All-Ireland title-holders had mixed fortunes in last night's draw for the 2005 championship. Football champions Kerry will open the defence of their title against Tipperary in one of two Munster quarter-finals, although a more daunting date with Limerick awaits them should they progress to the semi-final.

Kerry's old rivals Cork ended up in the other half of the draw and await the winners of the second quarter-final between Waterford and Clare. That creates the potential for a Kerry-Cork Munster final, traditionally one of the highlights of the GAA calendar and last seen in 2001.

The Cork hurlers are straight into the thick of things when opening the defence of their All-Ireland title. Although avoiding the quarter-final, they were handed a semi-final date against Waterford - the team that beat them in this year's Munster final.

Elsewhere there was the usual share of tough draws - and handy ones. Dublin kick off their Leinster football campaign at the first round stage for the first time since 1991, the result of their failure to make this year's semi-finals. They were handed a date with Longford, now under the guidance of Luke Dempsey.

That mightn't send shivers down the spine of the next Dublin manager, but a potential quarter-final date with Meath might, given that Seán Boylan will be determined to make something out of his 23rd year as Meath manager.

Champions Westmeath await the winners of the Wicklow-Kildare quarter-final, while Laois meet Offaly or Louth.

In Ulster, the 2002 All-Ireland champions Armagh have drawn the short straw. First up is the preliminary game against Fermanagh, who stunned them in this year's quarter-finals.

The winners there are out against Donegal in the quarter-finals, the others of which feature Tyrone against Down, Cavan against Antrim, and Monaghan against Derry.

Connacht champions Mayo have avoided Galway at least until the final, and will play the winners of the London-Roscommon quarter-final. Galway play New York and Leitrim play Sligo.

Back in the hurling championship, beaten All-Ireland finalists Kilkenny are straight into the Leinster semi-final against Offaly. The reigning Leinster champions, Wexford, await the winners of the Laois-Dublin quarter-final, once again creating the potential for a Kilkenny-Wexford final.

Next year also sees the introduction of the Hurling Development Committee's proposals, where the beaten teams from Munster and Leinster join Galway and the Ulster champions in the new round-robin qualifier series - and that will create eight teams to contest four quarter-finals. All the championship dates and venues will be fixed by the provincial councils over the coming weeks.