News: The brief hiatus before the final round of the National Football League in most cases affords counties a needed breather.

But Dublin have taken the two-week break a step further and will turn half of it into a warm-weather training trip in Tenerife, a practice made fashionable by Armagh two years ago.

Tomorrow the majority of the Dublin team departs for the Spanish resort, with manager Tommy Lyons and some of the younger panel members following them out on Sunday after first taking care of their Leinster under-21 assignment against Wicklow, set for Saturday in Baltinglass.

The team returns tomorrow week, two days before Dublin play Longford at home in the last regulation round of the league - a game unlikely to have any bearing on the final shake-up at either the top or bottom of Division One A.

Lyons, however, clearly hopes the training trip will help strengthen the team spirit as they head towards the championship. Two years ago, Armagh manager Joe Kernan took his team on a similar excursion to the La Manga resort and, while many people questioned it at the time, it proved a worthy foundation on their eventual run to the All-Ireland title.

"This is going to be a full-scale training camp," says Lyons, "not a holiday. We picked this time of the year because it will give us the chance to really get focused together as a team. Up to now we've had a lot of players away from us through the Sigerson Cup or whatever.

"We'll also try to freshen it up a little out there and get ourselves in tune with what we have to do in the build-up to the championship. And I expect we will be training quite hard out there."

The trip marks a new direction for Lyons in this his third year as Dublin manager. But he says it's not a new idea: "I've done this sort of thing before when I was with Offaly, so I know the main advantages that can be got from it."

While Armagh have made the idea of warm-weather training fashionable again - repeating their trip to La Manga last year - Kernan is still considering his options.

"No, we haven't finalised anything yet," he says, "but we're definitely looking to get away some time after the league. We were away last year and the year before, and without a doubt it has been a huge benefit.

"Most of all it gives us the chance to get ourselves together and get focused. But it's definitely not a holiday. It's a full week of training and it is hard work for the players. But there are a lot of other positives to get out of it, and especially the training conditions, because you still don't know what the weather will throw up here this time of the year."

Among the other counties to try out the practice is Roscommon, who have already benefited from a warm-weather training trip just after Christmas. The Westmeath football panel went on a training trip to Sunderland football club, and the Galway hurling panel have done likewise with a trip to Celtic.

Armagh remain in the hunt for one of the semi-final places from Division One B. Kernan's hopes hinge on their final game away to Limerick, who top the division with eight points. Armagh are on seven points, and a win at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday week would see them leapfrog Limerick, and possibly spoil their chances of seeing further league action.

"It's nice that we're still in the shake-up," said Kernan. "And we know we have to win in Limerick to qualify. But no one takes Limerick lightly anymore. They've proved themselves in this division and they've as much reason to believe they've earned their place in the play-offs."