All Star awards to be staged at Croke Park

The GAA-GPA All Star awards ceremony on Friday, November 8 will, for the first time, be held at Croke Park.

The ceremony has been hosted by a number of venues in the capital but GAA chiefs have now opted to bring the season ending gala to headquarters.

While the move will result in cost-saving, it was not the primary motivation, according to the GAA’s Director of Games Administration, Fergal McGill.

“It is one of the effects of the change,” he said, “but it was a decision that we took for a number of reasons. It’s a perfect fit. We have all of the facilities required. The organising committee, made of GAA and GPA representatives, came up with the suggestion and it received a lot of support.”

The first All Stars banquet in 1971, sponsored by tobacco firm PJ Carroll & Co, was held in the Intercontinental Hotel (later Jury’s), with the Burlington Hotel used after that. In the past decade, Citywest Hotel and the Convention Centre have hosted the night.