GAA cracks down on rogue traders
Fly-by-night operators have imported the flags and are selling them to retailers telling them they are official GAA produce.
Limerick flag and hurley maker DJ Daly has the licence from the GAA to supply official flags to each of the 32 counties.
For this he pays a percentage of sales to county boards.
However, the GAA has learnt in recent days that inferior quality flags with the official GAA logo were being sold in pubs and shops.
Mr Daly said: “I don’t want to say much, as I know Croke Park have taken action through the association’s solicitors.”
Mr Daly, whose late father Paddy started out making hurleys in Pallaskenry in the 1940s, branched into flags in 1996 when Limerick last got through to an All-Ireland senior hurling final.
DJ said: “At the time I was supplying the team with hurleys and at the semi-final, when on the sideline, the thought struck me there were just 30 hurleys in use on the field and tens of thousands of flags. So when I got home I set up a flag-making cottage industry alongside the hurley workshop and it took off from there.”
His jersey-making team of five are working 15-hour days to keep up with demand for Limerick flags of all sizes. The Daly clip-on car flags are also hugely popular.
He said: “We have also received orders for giant Limerick jerseys. They measure about 16 feet in length and 14 feet in width.”
DJ is also supplying the official flags to Kilkenny fans.
He said: “As Kilkenny have been in so many finals in recent years, many of their fans already have flags, so the demand would not be as great. But here in Limerick it’s just mad.”
Next week, DJ and his team will turn their attention to rugby.
He said: “We are making flags for the Rugby World Cup and have a line of bunting with the colours of all 20 countries taking part. Pubs all over the country are shouting for them already. Of course our Munster flags have been a major success.”
