COLLINGWOOD could play peacemaker in helping repair the relationship between the AFL and its Irish football counterparts.

Various media outlets have reported thismorning that Magpies president Eddie McGuire has brokered a deal with the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) for his club to play an exhibition game against Dublin at Croke Park in the Irish capital as early as this year.

While AFL boss Andrew Demetriou was holding talks in Dubai on Wednesday with a GAA delegation led by president Nicky Brennan, McGuire flew into the United Arab Emirates fresh from talks in Ireland.

Accompanied by Collingwood CEO Gary Pert and with the blessing of the AFL, McGuire said the match could happen by 2009 at the latest and the Irish are confident a crowd of around 85,000 would be attracted by the spectacle.

"We're doing this to get the goodwill back into the competition," McGuire is quoted as saying by Fairfax newspapers..

"We want to get the spirit right. We're not pulling a disparate side together with an overly nationalistic coach at the helm who might get a bit overexcited by the occasion.

"We're talking about an exchange of sporting ideals and a genuine cultural event. I know it sounds very schoolboy, but I think it has a lot of merit."

Resurrection of the International Rules series appears well on the cards with the GAA seemingly keen on matches at the end of the 2008 season as part of the AFL's 150th celebrations.

However, the delegation arrived in the UAE for the meeting with Demetriou armed with 61 taped examples of dubious on-field incidents, which took place in recent clashes between the two codes.

The GAA celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2009, and the Irish are reportedly keen to stage matches bi-annually.

McGuire and Pert arrived in Dubai on Wednesday in preparation for Saturday's NAB Cup season opener against Adelaide to be played on an expanded polo field in Abu Dhabi.

"We think it's not only a goodwill gesture," McGuire said of the Irish proposal, "but we are keen to reinforce once again that we are not only the biggest team in Melbourne, but also nationally, and that we have a lot to contribute internationally."

Meanwhile, The Herald Sun claimed that the management of Delta Goodrem and her partner Brian McFadden, who played for Dublin juniors, has been contacted about performing before the Magpies-Dublin game.

"We want to turn this in to a big Australia-Irish cultural festival as well," McGuire was quoted as saying in that newspaper's article.

The Herald Sun said GAA director Paraic Duffy is optimistic the International Rules series can be revived in the autumn.

However, he warned the series has no future if the issue of discipline is not addressed properly.

"I think there is a very genuine commitment on both sides to resolve the discipline issue. We have been very satisfied with the approach the AFL has taken to this over the last few months. There are a lot of issues to be hammered out," Duffy said.

"Everyone accepts that the games, as they were played in the last two series, are not acceptable."