Cooney: End in sight for Croker’s fan barrier

GAA PRESIDENT Christy Cooney has hinted that the nine-foot high crowd control barrier on Hill 16 could come down prior to the 2013 season after Croke Park’s campaign to tackle pitch invasions passed what may have been the acid test on Sunday.

Stadium director Peter McKenna has made similar noises in the past, without suggesting a date, but the success of the crowd control operation was unquestionable given Dublin had just broken a 16-year drought against Kerry.

“We have had four All-Ireland finals here with it up and we would probably want another year but I have no doubt but that it will come down again in time because the respect the fans have shown has been truly remarkable,” said Cooney. “Without them it wouldn’t have worked.”

There was some scepticism when the GAA announced its plans to combat a surge of spectators onto the pitch after finals, given the tradition had become ingrained into the September matchday experience.

Other methods introduced included the decision to allocate seats in the first few rows around the other three sides of the pitch to neutral spectators and Cooney admitted at the time that such measures had been taken as a last resort.

Had they not worked, the next step was to investigate the possibility of introducing legislation making it an offence for fans to enter the playing surface — as it is in other countries — but Cooney deflected the credit when asked if the GAA had ‘cracked’ it.

“No, the fans have cracked it for us. We got a bit of criticism when we started this process but if you looked out on that field you saw the fans celebrating in the stands and on the Hill and the players able to celebrate on the field with some of their children and savour the occasion. Could I also mention the reaction the Hill gave to the Tipperary minor team and their graciousness towards winners and losers? It was fabulous. It was a milestone for us and proved it can work. It proved that our fans can enjoy the game from seats or on the Hill.”

Sunday’s diary of events could hardly have run much better for the GAA both on and off the pitch with superb minor and senior encounters both of which were won in dramatic circumstances right at the death.

Yet, rarely does such a high-profile occasion pass without some whiff of controversy — real or imagined — and Dublin’s victory in the senior game has been accompanied by claims that Kerry were hard done-by with some of the calls made by referee Joe McQuillan. Contested calls and scores have littered the championship summer in general but Cooney gave McQuillan and the rest of the GAA’s stable of officials, which includes referees, linesmen and umpires, a thumbs up for their roles.

“I enjoyed the game tremendously,” he said of the football decider. “There were periods where I wouldn’t have known that there was a referee on the pitch because the game was flowing so fast and people must remember the pace of that game in the first 20 minutes. It was phenomenal. The ball was going up and down the field. There were hard hits given and taken and look at the sportsmanship. It was remarkable. People came off tired, devastated or full of joy but my view is our referees and all our officials do a very good job. Look at both All-Ireland finals, you can always comment on a mistake that a referee or a player will make but overall I think we had an All-Ireland final that would befit any day.”

Sunday’s All-Ireland final was the last that Cooney will attend as president. His tenure ends next April when Liam O’Neill of Laois assumes the role and the Youghal native reflected on the finals he has been lucky to take in during his time at the helm of the association.

“I have been fortunate in my tenure as president as I have had three different winners in football, Tipperary winning the minor for the first time in 77 years, and we have had three great, spectacular hurling finals.

“Our brand has never been stronger at national level.

“We are in a good space and there is no reason why we cannot go from strength to strength.”