We can’t run from the problem

The first time the GAA separates the supporters at a game of hurling or football will be the last time its loyalists can point at itself — as they so often do now — as an exemplary sport whose supporters still conform to the norms of civilised behaviour.

But that’s exactly what Crokes club chairman Vincent Casey has called for when his side take on Armagh champions Crossmaglen at Portlaoise in the All-Ireland club senior football semi-final by calling for separate blocks of tickets for the respective supporters.

He cites the fact that when the clubs last met, in the 2007 All-Ireland final replay, they complained of receiving verbal abuse from their northern counterparts. Citing the disgraceful scenes during the Derrytresk (Tyrone) and Dromid Pearses (Kerry) junior club semi-final last Sunday, Vincent reckons the two sets of supporters should be kept apart, free to roar and shout to their hearts’ content without fear of being attacked.