DUBLIN would be "open to suggestions" regarding playing their concluding NFL Division 1 clash against Tyrone at Croke Park on April 11 according to County Board chairman, Gerry Harrington, after Red Hands boss, Mickey Harte last week floated the idea of staging the fixture in the GAA's HQ.

The match is scheduled to be played in Healy Park, Omagh but Harte was adamant that Tyrone would happily concede home advantage to play an early season match at Croke Park.

CONFIDENT

The three-time All-Ireland winning manager was also confident that a deal between the relevant parties could be done and with no major events scheduled in the stadium between the March 20 RBS Six Nations game between Ireland and Scotland and the NFL finals on April 25, the ground's availability is not an issue.

"It would highlight a closing round game as opposed to an opening round one and maybe it would give us possibilities for the future," Harte claimed. "I would be happy enough to go to Croke Park because you are getting towards the summer time.

"It always generates a serious atmosphere that you can't get anywhere else when you play Dublin in Croke Park, unless you are in an All-Ireland semi-final or final.

"If it was a possibility I for one would be pursuing it. It would be up to the two counties involved to get together and decide on the potential benefits of having it there. They could negotiate with Croke Park and hope everyone would see it as a 'win-win' situation," stressed Harte.

And Harrington was ruling nothing out when asked whether Dublin would be willing to do a deal.

"If those situations arise, we're always open to suggestions and we're always open to agreements," he told the Herald.

"We would always play where the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) tell us to play but our next game is against Derry (Saturday night, Parnell Park, 7.30) and that's the most important game at the moment coming down the tracks at us."

Last week, Dubs boss Pat Gilroy avoided the issue, stating that such decisions would be made further down the line, though any negotiations would likely be subject to one or both of the teams remaining in contention for a final berth going into the match.

However, both Dublin and Tyrone's penultimate games of the league are on March 27, when Gilroy's men face Galway in Parnell Park and Tyrone welcome Kerry to Omagh, leaving a two-week break before the Dublin/Tyrone match and potentially, enough time to manage the logistics of moving it to Croke Park and promoting the event.

CELEBRATION

The Tyrone manager has overseen league wins at HQ against the Dubs in both the 2007 and 2009 seasons, the first marking the first match played under the stadium's new floodlights while last year's meeting - Gilroy's first league game as Dubs boss - marked the opening of the GAA's 125th year anniversary celebration.

The first drew a crowd of 81,678 while 79,161 was the official attendance at last year's fixture, with the GAA coming in for some criticism for not organising a similar money-spinning league opener this year.

- Conor McKeon