Mayo GAA increase possibility of rugby at McHale Park

Mayo GAA secretary Sean Feeney has said today that the county board would be open to the suggestion of Connacht playing Heineken Cup rugby in McHale Park next year.

Eric Elwood’s side have qualified for Europe’s premier club competition for the first time by dint of Leinster winning the Heineken Cup this year and thus creating another seeding spot for an Irish province.

Connacht are currently playing their rugby at the Sportsgrounds in Galway which has a maximum capacity of 7,500 and considering the likes of Toulouse, Clermont, Northampton or even the likes of Munster or Leinster could be visiting Galway in next year’s tournament, the western province will surely be seeking a much larger venue.

Discussions are underway over the possibility of the Castlebar venue, which has a 49,000 capacity, being used to host some of Connacht's matches.

“We'd certainly welcome [sic] it if it was feasible for Connacht to play here," Mr Feeney told The Western People newspaper.

“I don't think we'd have any problem with it at all, in principle.

“It's time now that the GAA looked at the best possible ways of making the most use of our facilities to bring badly needed finance into our association.

“Times have changed and we have to change with them.”