GAA fans forced out to the wings
It is their practice now to close off some of the best seats in Croke Park, the upper-levels in the Cusack and Hogan stands, during these fixtures.
As a result, the worst quality tickets were offered for sale to the queues waiting at Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, in the run-up to the hurling semi-final against Galway. The better seats had already gone to the clubs.
But not every supporter is a member of a GAA club, and even if they were they could not be guaranteed a ticket.
The GAA, no doubt under pressure from RTÉ, has decided to improve the ‘atmosphere’ by crushing the attendance into the lower decks of the Croke Park stands. The corner sections at these levels become the leftovers for sale to Joe and Mary Soap, a class of people who have both supported the GAA down the decades and who will not get tickets for the All-Irelands themselves. And the corner sections are abominably poor seats. No GAA or RTÉ official realises this because it is a long time since any of them has viewed a game from these sections.
The truth is that RTÉ, the corporate face of sports journalism in Ireland, is now calling the shots. They want pretty pictures of packed stands and Joe and Mary must pay the full whack, €40, to go to Dublin and make up a crowd.
No doubt the elite who occupy the premium-level seats and the corporate boxes will not be asked to crush into the corner of the Cusack Stand or sit behind the nets at the Canal End.
The hurling supporters of Kilkenny, Galway, Cork, Clare, Waterford, etc., and their counterparts in football, should resolve to boycott the semi-finals in the coming years. Stay at home, save your money and get a good view of the match. It’s time for ordinary GAA supporters to decide that they are more than just pretty pictures.
Michael Brennan
3 Oakley Lawn
Earls Court
Waterford
