'I didn’t realise you could get pension at 35': Connacht GAA chiefs wise to 'pensioner' try-on

OLD TRICK: Connacht chiefs say some supporters in their thirties have been claiming to be pensioners to save money on entry. Pic: James Lawlor, Inpho

CONNACHT GAA chief executive John Prenty says people impersonating pensioners at U20 football championship games prompted provincial chiefs to increase the admission price for OAPS.

Admission for over-65s had been €10 at the U20 group fixtures but recently jumped to €15 and, speaking on Midwest Radio, Prenty explained the rationale behind the decision.

“The amount of people who came to the gates purporting to be pensioners – I didn’t realise you could get the pension at about 35,” scoffed Prenty. “A huge amount of people purporting to be pensioners who weren’t pensioners.

“We ask for ID but what happens is they build up a queue and we just have to let them in. We have never stopped a legitimate pensioner coming in. We let a lot of pensioners in for nothing.” 

Prenty was on “The Tommy Marren Show” to discuss the council’s decision to charge €35 for all covered stand tickets at Sunday week’s senior semi-final between Mayo and Roscommon in Castlebar’s Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.

Prenty explained the Connacht Council have run a deficit the last two years, a combined €250,000. They only have three senior championship fixtures and need other sources of funding such as the FBD Connacht League.

Gate receipts from the quarter-finals involving London and New York go directly to the host county boards. The province provides grants of €12,000 and €50,000 to the teams travelling to the respective cities.

Stressing admission is €5 for juveniles elsewhere in the stadium, Prenty added 3,000 season ticket holders have to be accommodated in the covered stand as well as those for clubs, players’ families and sponsors.

Season ticket holders are allocated at either end of the covered stand. It was put to Prenty that better quality tickets are sometimes made available online in the lead-up to games and not to loyal fans. “Well, I would say the real supporters are the people that are involved in their clubs that gets their tickets through the county board,” he responded.

The full interview on Midwest Radio can be heard here: https://shows.acast.com/the-tommy-marren-show-on-midwest-radio/episodes/john-prenty-connacht-gaa-ticket-prices