'I just felt unsafe': Woman hit with flare during Cork-Limerick match at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

The woman has called for bag searches to be implemented at the stadium to crack down on unsafe behaviour

Tue, 14 May, 2024 - 16:29

Michelle McGlynn and Imasha Costa

There have been calls for better security checks to be implemented at Páirc Uí Chaoimh after a number of people were hurt during the Cork and Limerick match on Saturday.

The Irish Examiner revealed details on Monday of a 16-year-old girl who was trampled in a post-match pitch invasion.

The girl was left hurt and terrified having "feared for her life". There are also suggestions that two other teenage girls suffered serious knee and ankle injuries in the terrifying episode.

Now, another woman has revealed that she was hurt when she was hit in the head with a flare that had been set off in the crowd. She described being hit in the back of her head after a smoke flare went off in the Blackrock Terrace early on in the Munster championship match.

"I got an awful fright, to be honest with you. I was worried my head was on fire at the start. I had just felt something hot hit the back of my head and I saw the red smoke," she told 96FM Opinion Line with PJ Coogan.

"There were children next to me. I would say the girls were about 10 or 11. It could have been a lot worse."

The woman raised the incident with the steward but said he was busy dealing with a group of intoxicated young people at the time.

"I thought they would be able to kick out the people that did it. There were girls behind me who saw it happen and they were furious and they were asking the steward to throw out people."

She also went to a member of An Garda Síochána who was located at the front of the stand but was told there was nothing they could do.

"I just felt unsafe and my husband and I just left... It was disappointing for me, I would have loved to have stayed for the whole game."

It was her first time attending a match at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in a few years as she has been busy with her young children. She said she was not surprised to hear of the chaos of the pitch invasion and that a young girl was injured as a result.

She said:

I had friends that were at another game recently and they were in the terrace and they felt it was very unsafe as well. They said they would never go to the terrace again.

She has called for mandatory bag searches to be carried out as people enter the stadium as it will make it more difficult for people to sneak in flares or other projectiles.

It would also stop people from being able to bring in cans and bottles of alcohol meaning there would be less anti-social behaviour at matches.

In a statement from Munster GAA, it said there were 40 training private security personnel deployed to carry out checks of tickets, bottles and contraband at the fourth access points.

"While there was a high volume of confiscation of alcohol, flares and smoke bombs, a limited number of these items were smuggled into the stadium by supporters," Munster GAA said.

"These supporters persist to ignite these devices and use them recklessly in the terraces which puts our patrons in the terraces which puts our patrons in the terrace areas at risk.

"There were four trained fire stewards detailed to the terraces to deal with such pyrotechnics and limit the risk to our patrons.

"With the support of the Gardai, there were 16 ejections from the venue on Saturday night, largely due to igniting flares and smoke bombs."

Munster GAA further added that is asks the small number of supporters who do bring these items to their games to "please refrain from doing so as they pose a serious risk to fellow supporters."

Páirc Uí Chaoimh have been contacted for comment.

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