Tipp club counts cost of weather conditions

OFFICIALS at Tipperary club Grangemockler have estimated that up to €17,000 was spent on preparing for yesterday’s glamour inter-county double-header, which fell foul of the weather.

Old rivals Dublin and Kerry were due to meet in a senior football challenge while National Hurling League finalists Kilkenny and Tipperary were booked for a hurling clash.

The games were fixed as part of the GAA’s 125 celebrations, with a series of events organised by Grangemockler to remember former clubman Michael Hogan, who was buried in the village after he was shot on Bloody Sunday 1920.

A commemorative Mass in memory of Hogan on Saturday evening was followed by a wreath-laying service before a talk on the history of the GAA and the events of Bloody Sunday took place in the village’s new Sports Hall.

However, club officials took the agonising decision to call off the eagerly-awaited matches following torrential overnight rain on Saturday evening.

Grangemockler Field Committee chairman Michael Pender said: “There wasn’t a lot that we could do. You definitely couldn’t play hurling on the pitch but for a while, it looked like we might get the football going.”

The erection of a marquee and a stand for dignitaries made up the bulk of the cost while there was also significant spending on the installation of Portaloos. Smaller costs were associated with the printing of match programmes and catering.

Pender added: “Regarding man hours, you couldn’t estimate it. An awful lot of work went into this but while the matches were a huge part of the weekend, it was all about honouring Michael Hogan and we managed to do that.”

The costs associated with the weekend were offset to a large degree by Lotto and county council funding and club officials had prepared for the weekend for eight weeks.