Opening up Croker could see its unique character eroded

Cowboys and Indians have been there. So too have archers and boxers. As soccer and rugby struggle for a run out in Croke Park, Colm O’Connor discovers that the stadium has been a generous host to many in the past.

NO member of Tim Carey’s family died on Bloody Sunday. Check his wallet and you will be hard pressed to find any card confirming allegiance to the GAA. Yet Carey understands the passions of the Croke Park debate better than most.

Carey, a Trinity College graduate of history and geography, worked in the stadium’s museum before publishing the first historical work on the headquarters of the GAA. It was the controversial Rule 42 which inspired him to undertake Croke Park: A History, and has ensured plenty of telephone calls in recent times.