The GAA is to look at the possibility of acquiring temporary floodlights. This follows the success of the lights used for last month's first International Rules Test in Galway's Pearse Stadium and could provide a platform in the short term for the staging of more widely based floodlit national league matches.

"It's certainly something worth considering," said the GAA's commercial and marketing manager, Dermot Power. "They go over and back to the venue, base themselves there and the lights arrived on trucks and were gone the next day. We were all pleasantly surprised by how successful it proved in Galway.

"We haven't even started a cost-benefit analysis but it would be one way of devising a fixed schedule of night matches without the massive capital costs of every ground installing their own lights.

"I think it's worth a try but it's probably unlikely to happen this coming year so you'd be talking about the 2008 season."

Floodlit national league matches have become part of the spring schedules for the past four seasons but they have been limited by the scarcity of grounds with the facility. To date only Dublin, Cork and Kerry have been able to host night-time football matches.

Although Cork have staged a couple of NHL matches in Páirc Uí Rinn at night, there is a perception among some other counties that this creates too much of an advantage for the home side, and none of last season's hurling fixtures were played under lights.

Power believes equipment could be hired for a league season and moved around between various venues, and the initiative monitored before possibly investing in a full set.

"I think you'd look at leasing the lights for six to eight weeks and evaluate the situation. You'd get a better deal on leasing for a longer period but a lot would depend on what other uses the lights were being put to. If they weren't in demand you'd probably get quite a good deal.

"But guessing, I'd say that overall you'd be lucky to get change from €200,000. The targeted grounds would be smaller venues like Portlaoise and Ennis, where they would give a fantastic atmosphere to matches."

Another advantage of a broader spread of floodlit matches, according to Power, is that it would create more sustainable interest among television companies. At present Setanta have the rights to floodlit matches but, given the shortage of equipped venues, it's not possible to arrange a weekly schedule of matches at night.

"If we were able to build a weekly series of floodlit matches into the 2008 national leagues," he says, "it would create the possibility of a more attractive package of games for when the television rights are renegotiated.

"It would enhance the value of a bundle of Saturday night matches if there were no gaps in the schedule and a spread of counties. I think it's worth a try."