Council 'may fund football holidays'

THE Leinster Council may consider making contributions to the Dublin and Kildare holiday funds following the massive financial boost gained from the 78,000 attendance at Sunday's provincial football final in Croke Park.

Chairman Nicky Brennan was noncommittal yesterday about such a gesture similar to what the Council did following the four game Dublin/Meath marathon in the first round in 1991. Instead, he said that up to now their gates were down on last year because of the unavailability of Croke Park.

"I am not going to say we are not going to do something for the counties, but, I am not saying we are either. That will be a matter for the Leinster Council in due course.

"Because of not being able to use Croke Park up to Sunday (because of the laying of the new pitch), our games were significantly down. All Sunday did was bring it (their finances) up to last year's levels, although it may not done that in its totality.''

Brennan attributes hype to the near sell out crowd at Croke Park. "People want to be seen there. There are few stadiums in the world like it now.

Apart from that the two counties have probably the most fanatical supporters in the country, in terms of having a huge population.

"You had no games in either Connacht or Ulster and we had a big demand for tickets from the Ulster counties. Add to that the fact that the finalists in the minor final, Longford and Meath, probably brought in about 10,000 people who might not otherwise have come. It was a very attractive day for Leinster because of the uniqueness of the occasion and there was simply phenomenal demand anyway."

Had they the use of all sections of the top tier of the Hogan Stand side they would have filled the stadium to its 79,500 capacity, Brennan added.

Director general Liam Mulvihill was doubly pleased, not just seeing the stadium being showcased on such a major occasion but in celebrating his native Longford's win in the minor final. It was their first success in the championship since 1938, having last contested a final in 1974.

Roscommon man Jimmy Jacquin is coach to the team and he teaches in St Mel's College in Longford, where he himself was a star player in his schooldays. "Yes, it was nice to see your own county take the stage at least once during your time here,'' he said.

Mr Mulvihill would be the last to boast about what has been achieved by the GAA, but he has been the driving force behind the project from the start, supported by the serving presidents going back to the time of the late John Dowling.

Initially, he was the one who gently nudged the membership in taking the important policy decision to redevelop the stadium in Croke Park as opposed to building on a greenfield site.

"It was a marvellous occasion, between the crowd, the atmosphere and the game itself. It vindicated everything that we have done,'' he said.

At a more general level, the director general agrees it has been a hectic year for the Association on the games front, with the breakthrough of Waterford's hurlers, the progress of Limerick in the football qualifier and the feat of Tipperary in holding Cork to a draw in the Munster final.

"It has been a tremendous undertaking, with so many fixtures between both the hurling and the football. We all expected there could be problems with the dual player issue, with the likes of Offaly and Galway, and obviously Cork."

One downside of have such a modern stadium, he explained, is the huge cost of staging major events like Sunday's game, because of the massive numbers of stewards and security personnel. "You are talking about a fairly major increase in costs, but the extra capacity should pay its way in that regard.''