Limerick fans to man the home front at big screen Munster street party
Mayor of Limerick Cllr Ger Fahy said while tens of thousands would travel to the Millennium Stadium, he wanted stay-at-home fans to come out and cheer on the team via two big screens, which will stream live into the stadium. The screens are being sponsored by Limerick City Council, Limerick County Council, Shannon Development and the Irish Examiner.
Two years ago scenes from O’Connell Street were flashed on to the stadium screen to spectacular effect.
Team captain Paul O’Connell remarked afterwards: “When we looked up and saw the sea of red erupting in O’Connell Street I turned to the lads and said ‘we’ll never be able to face those fans without the cup’. It had a huge psychological effect.”
The brainchild of Andrew Mawhinney, then director of the Limerick Co-ordination Office, this time two big screens will again be sited in the centre of O’Connell Street.
Announcing the decision to go ahead with a big-screen street party on May 24, Eoghan Prendergast of Shannon Development said yesterday: “We would like to see every premises and every street in the city emblazoned with the red of Munster, and let’s start straight away and enjoy the build-up.”
Fran O’Donnell of Futureama Productions, which is organising the street event, said: “We will be bringing in the screens from the UK. Again it’s more than likely that Sky Sports will want to link in to Limerick given the huge and dramatic visual impact it had last time. I would say that this time the French will also want a look in.”
Cllr John Clifford of Limerick County Council said the game gave Limerick city and county a tremendous opportunity to show a great united front in promoting the whole region.
Jimmy Woulfe, Mid-West Correspondent of the Irish Examiner, said the paper was delighted to come on board.
He said: “The TV images last time were probably the greatest sports scenes ever to come from a non-sporting arena setting.”
In 2006 an estimated 20,000 people thronged Limerick city centre to view the game on a single big screen.
It is expected that similar numbers will turn out on May 24 to view the game on two screens, which will be sited at the junctions of O’Connell Street/Glentworth Street and O’Connell Street/Shannon Street.
Street entertainment will start at 3pm, two hours before kick-off.
