Football clash to boost ‘patchy’ tourist season

Tourist haven Killarney is set for a bonanza weekend as it gears up for an eagerly-awaited football clash between Kerry and Tyrone.

The GAA is preparing for an attendance of up to 25,000, including around 7,000 fans from the North, at the All-Ireland qualifier, in Fitzgerald Stadium, tonight with a 5pm throw-in.

Gardaí have told fans to expect traffic congestion and advised people to start arriving from noon onwards to assist traffic control and parking arrangements.

Sgt Dermot O’Connell said traffic would be busy in any case in Killarney, on a peak season Saturday afternoon, and they had also lost a lot of potential parking facilities for the match because of the wet weather.

“The prime parking area will be the Killarney bypass road and we’re asking drivers to co-operate fully with stewards and gardaí. To make maximum use of parking space on the bypass, cars will be parked on the hard shoulders and facing the road. It’s vital that people come early to facilitate efficient parking,” he said.

Publicans, meanwhile, are rolling in the barrels to slake the thirst of thousands who will be in town for what is being billed the most attractive GAA match of the weekend, given the intense rivalry between Kerry and Tyrone.

Killarney Vintners’ chairman Paudie O’Callaghan said it was great boost to get the fixture in a tourist season which has been described as “patchy’’ up to now.

“We find that everything is now event-driven. The Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle weekend was huge in Killarney, as was the Irish Open Golf Championship in the past two years. You need something to bring in the crowds and what better than Kerry v Tyrone,’’ he said.

Mr O’Callaghan, of the Fáilte Hotel, said the business community in Killarney had helped the GAA clear a large debt on Fitzgerald Stadium and now they were getting something back.

He called on publicans to ensure customers leaving premises were given plastic glasses and that no bottles, or glasses, were left on the streets.

Hotels and guesthouses are preparing for a hectic weekend, which should compensate for the lack of a Cork v Kerry match in Killarney this year.

Fitzgerald Stadium has a crowd capacity of just under 35,000 and should be comfortably able to cater for an expected attendance of between 20,000 and 25,000.