Eircom National League officials will meet their Irish League counterparts later this month to thrash out the details of a mooted cross-Border cup. It is hoped the 32-county competition will be in place for next season.

Officials met informally before the interleague game at Terryland last week - and National League treasurer Brendan Menton later reported that mood was positive.

"I think the greater reluctance was on their part before this, but now the feeling seems to be that this is something that could be very attractive to the clubs, the supporters and potentially to sponsors and television," said Menton.

The biggest problem might be squeezing the competition into the calendar. One proposal is for sixteen clubs from either side of the Border, with the early stages being played on a league basis in September and October. That would probably spell the end for the League Cup south of the Border.

"There is a possibility that, because of the timing, we might have to go up against the Champions League games on television, but there's no real way of avoiding that these days," said Menton.

According to FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne, demand for the competition is coming from the clubs themselves.

"The fact is that, if the whole thing was being put to clubs from above, then there might be problems having it accepted," he said, "but with something like this the basic initiative is really coming from the clubs themselves, and so it's hard to see there being too much resistance to it."