Final fervour reaches fever pitch with €305 bus tickets

THEY have shared five of the last six All-Ireland Hurling titles. But familiarity has only sharpened people’s enthusiasm and, perhaps in some cases, dulled their senses ahead of tomorrow’s Cork v Kilkenny clash.

Yesterday, a couple of return coach tickets from Cork to Dublin leaving on Sunday morning sold for €305 on eBay — proof that the fervour had blurred people’s senses as well as their ability to read the fine print.

In fairness to the unnamed seller they did specify “bus seats only”, face value €35, and, in bold writing, pleaded with people not to bid the same price for transport as others were paying for elusive access to Croke Park.

The seller said: “Hello fellow e-bayers, these are for bus seats only I do not have match tickets — do not bid anymore.

“Next person to bid after this notice will be charged in full for not paying attention.”

Five more bids came in after that warning showing the extent to which people were going to just to be among the 80,000 present for the throw-in.

Special trains laid on from Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Cork and Kilkenny were all sold out yesterday afternoon and only the supporters of the Galway minor side had any hope of getting a seat to Dublin. Even the regular train services were limited to special access and the message from Irish Rail was “if they don’t have a ticket already they will have to find another way”.

And for those who do not manage to get a lift by car, there are options in the public/private partnership between bus companies ferrying people to the capital.

Urlingford coach operator JJ Kavanagh has laid on enough vehicles to carry 1,500 people from locations around Kilkenny on the morning of the game — 400 more than will be carried by Irish Rail from Kilkenny City.

However, Mr Kavanagh said the flagship journey for his fleet is the coach carrying the Kilkenny team and another with their wives and girlfriends.

The only banana skin which remains is the pitch at Croke Park and how players will be able to keep their feet on its notoriously slippy surface if September showers strike between 3pm and 5pm tomorrow.

However, there is a little ray of sunshine from Met Éireann who say there is a 50:50 chance that the heavens will hold out for hurling’s showpiece.

A forecaster said: “Mostly it will be a bright and pleasant day with a westerly breeze. There will be plenty of sunshine and if there are showers they will only be passing over quickly, but even if there are small showers, it will seem a lot worse for people sitting in the stands.”