Croker fencing ‘almost inevitable’

THE erection of fencing around the Croke Park pitch was yesterday described as ‘almost inevitable’ by stadium director Peter McKenna after Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final post-match pitch invasion.

Stringent attempts by GAA chiefs to eradicate the practice and stage the victory presentation in the centre of the field were scuppered when Kilkenny fans broke past stewards at the Hill 16 end of the ground. McKenna described the situation as ‘exceptionally dangerous’ and revealed that a number of stewards were assaulted by fans, which could lead to prosecutions when video footage is properly examined.

“I think it’s almost inevitable that there will be fencing in the whole ground. We’d have to talk with the various statutory bodies, as there is European legislation where they has to be quick release in terms of evacuation. But fencing will really take from the vista and will make the place Ceausescu-esque.

“On Sunday it was exceptionally dangerous at the front of the stage. We had some hairy moments in that crush area as there was no movement there. It became very aggressive, as a lot of boxing and punching went on there. I’ve a steward with a broken nose and another has an eye injury. We have to remember these stewards are volunteers and for them to go home with facial injuries is unacceptable.”

McKenna ruled out the possibility of implementing controlled pitch invasions and insisted that the sale of alcohol within Croke Park was not a major contributory factor to the pitch invasions. He also did not discount the GAA adopting legislative means to deter fans from encroaching onto the pitch after matches, which could also lead to the GAA replicating the AFL model where fans are fined and banned if they invade pitches.

“I don’t think a regulated walk-on to the pitch would happen. You’d be looking at taking the stands down one by one. The level of co-operation you need to do that doesn’t exist. I’m not so sure that alcohol is a big problem. The amount of drink that is sold on a match day is far less than what we’d sell for concerts. We don’t allow any drink into the stands and we shut down the bars before the national anthem.

“Introducing legislation could be difficult because it would have to cover every ground. If we could avoid going the legislative way, we will. I don’t think people respond well to legislation and it doesn’t sit well with our national psyche. But it has to be a real option. It’s beholden on us to ensure an event goes risk-free, but this is quite the opposite.”

McKenna also revealed that the Croke Park surface was heavily damaged as a result of being trampled on during the invasion and that it requires serious work in order to be ready for next Sunday’s All-Ireland camogie and U21 hurling final double-bill. The Clare U21 hurlers had planned to have a training session on Sunday evening but that was rendered impossible by the massive amount of debris on the pitch.

“The pitch is in terrible shape. We’ve a huge amount of work to do between now and the weekend. All the good work done last week in spiking the pitch has to be done again. We’ve got to put top dressing on to get the grass to lift up and you’re looking for good weather. The grass has been walked on, all the cell structure and the leaf is now gone. It looked green yesterday evening but now it has started to go black.

“There was a huge amount of debris on the pitch. Some of the things that we picked out included bottles of under-arm spray, ventolin inhalers, spectacles and glass bottles. It was like people took bags of rubbish onto the pitch and emptied them. ”

McKenna praised the gardaí and stewards for their successful implementation of the contingency plan on Sunday after the invasion occurred, but admitted it will be ‘almost impossible’ to keep supporters off the pitch for the All-Ireland football decider in two weeks time.

“I think we’ve got two weeks now to see what modifications we can make so it happens. All of the issues that we spent a lot of time taking people through before the finals, they still are there. I think if anything, they’ve been brought into sharper focus now. It is a tradition, but as Paraic (Duffy) said in his annual report, that’s no consolation if there’s a serious injury or fatality. We’re not a million miles away from that.”

Meanwhile, GAA president Christy Cooney declined to confirm whether a second attempt at a pitch presentation would be made for the football decider but revealed such a practice will be policy sooner or later at Croke Park.

“We thought we were there,” said Cooney. “After five minutes it looked extremely good but then we had a break in from Hill 16 and it is impossible to control that. We are certainly not going to endanger our own stewards when people wouldn’t carry out our request. It was very disappointing.

“The sad thing about it is that they were putting themselves in danger and, in some cases, their own kids that they were bringing onto the pitch. We are where we are. We are going to sit down and review it this week.

“Whether we can do it for the football final or not we are going to have a look at it, but our intention is to get to where we want to get to – to have the presentation on the pitch, for one reason and one reason only – to safeguard anybody from suffering any serious injury because we are concerned that is going to happen.”