Crokes want supporters segregated at semi-final

Dr Crokes have called on the GAA to segregate supporters and ensure proper safety procedures are in place for next month’s All-Ireland senior semi-final against Crossmaglen Rangers at Portlaoise.

Club chairman Vincent Casey voiced his concerns following theviolent scenes which marred fellow Kerry club Dromid Pearses and Tyrone’s Derrytresk All-Ireland Club JFC semi-final clash at the same venue on Sunday. He believed the fallout from that match detracted from the play on the field and called on the GAA to change their usual seating arrangements ahead of the February 18 fixture.

“We are looking for a block of tickets for our supporters so they can sit together in a particular area of the stand and therefore both sets of supporters can cheer on their team, without interfering or upsetting each other,” he said.

“It’s basic common sense and good practice really because we want the 30 players on the field grabbing the headlines afterwards unlike the coverage our games have been getting over the past number of days. We are also looking for adequate stewarding and in view of what happened there on Sunday they increase the number of stewards at the venue and that also they have a bigger Garda presence than last Sunday.

“We would like to see the area in front of the where the substitutes sit to be well stewarded so there is no chance of anyone other than authorised personnel having any access to the pitch.

“We have mentioned it to the Kerry County Board and they will represent us at county level, and let Croke Park know about our concerns. Some county board officials were there and saw what happened in Portlaoise so they are aware of the situation.”

That Dr Crokes and Crossmaglen have history is also expected to add to the occasion. When the sides met in the 2007 All-Ireland final replay in Portlaoise, it was alleged the Killarney club’s midfielder Ambrose O’Donovan was struck by a female supporter after he was sent off. It was also claimed at the time that two Crokes substitutes were intimidated at the interval.

“There was an incident five years ago when one of our players was hit after being sent off, and we feel strongly that this needs to be addressed because five years on from ourexperience there, this happened last Sunday,” Casey said.

“It’s important that the players feel safe on the field but that the supporters feel safe in the stands as well. If you are going to a match then you are there to enjoy it, you don’t expect fights like that to break out or for kids to see that type of behaviour.”

Meanwhile, Dromid Pearses have insisted that there is no anti-Tyrone bias at the heart of their efforts to ensure sanctions are handed down in the wake of last Sunday’s ill-tempered All-Ireland JFC club semi-final. In an official statement released by the club last night, they are also adamant that the fact that people attending the match were placed in danger by the GAA cannot be ignored.

“We stand very firmly by the fact that this is not an issue of Kerry versus Tyrone or anything of the kind.

“We wish to make clear that had this occurred with any team that we would feel the same. We have the greatest of respect for Tyrone football and all they have achieved but incidents such as last Sunday’s cannot be tolerated by anyone or any team regardless of what county or province they represent. The fact that so many people were placed in danger cannot be left unnoticed. In light of the game that occurred on Sunday last in Portlaoise, we felt that the issue of violence and public scenes of disturbance at GAA fixtures need to be highlighted and acted upon in an official capacity, as it left us as a team, management and club as a whole feeling quite disturbed having enjoyed our run throughout this fantastic competition to date and are saddened that it culminated in the events of last Sunday.

“The players, management and supporters of Cumann Peile Piarsaigh na Dromoda are all united in the knowledge that the CCC will deal with this and assign appropriate punishment to those who instigated events.

“It is now in the hands of the officials in Croke Park and in the hands of the CCC.”

Row has 90,000 YouTube hits

Over 90,000 people have viewed violent footage of the row between Dromid Pearses and Derrytresk. The incident took place just before half-time in Portlaoise on Sunday and was followed by further violence at the end of the match.

The Irish Examiner posted the footage on a YouTube account which has been accessed by almost 100,000 people, accompanied by over 300 comments. The incident can be viewed by typing Irish Examiner into the YouTube search engine.