Ulster final like 'Christmas week' for Clones
More than 30,000 people will be in Clones, Co Monaghan to see Donegal and Armagh face off in both the men's and women's Ulster Senior Football Championship finals tomorrow.
St Tiernach's Park will be at its 29,000 capacity, with an additional 6,000 people expected to be elsewhere in the town for the matches.
The border town has a population of just 1,885, according to the 2022 Census.
"I still don't know how it works, but it's worked for 80 years so we're doing something right," said Patrick McCarville,owner of the Creighton Hotel.
The family-run hotel is located at the bottom of Fermanagh Street, a one-way street that on match days is pedestrianised to allow fans safely make their way from the Diamond to the stadium.
"There's a natural amphitheatre with the large buildings on both sides of the street and I think that creates the atmosphere. St Tiernach's Park is also like a natural amphitheatre and the atmosphere up there is like no other," he said.
"There's nothing like Ulster Final day in Clones. If you could bottle the atmosphere that the town creates."
A 2024 study commissioned by the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association found that last year's Ulster Final generated €1.5 million for Clones, with a significant benefit rippling out to surrounding towns and villages in Co Monaghan, as well as other counties that supporters would pass through.
"If you take Donegal fans, Fermanagh gets a serious boost. All the towns - Enniskillen, Lisnaskea, Newtownbutler. People know their way to Clones and they know their way out of Clones, they know the stops they'll make," Mr McCarville said.
Businesses in the town rely on income generated from the championship matches to invest back into their operations and improve their offerings for the rest of the year.
"As someone once said to me, the rates collector came around twice a year. Once after Christmas and once after the Ulster Final," said Bernard McNally, who runs the local SuperValu.
The pubs and chip shops were the biggest winners from the increased footfall, he said.
Clones GAA club provides the majority of volunteers for the final and other inter-county matches that are held in the town.
The preparation for the final started with the first round of the Ulster Championship, said former club chairman Colin McCaughey.
"It's a massive weekend for the club," he said. "A lot of people are involved. We've a lot of volunteers. We have the shops, we have the stewards, people making sandwiches and tea for the referees."
Club members from underage players to the committee all row behind the effort, he said.
Approximately €2.5m has been invested in the stadium in previous two to three years, Mr McCaughey said, with more planned.
"We have new seating put in, that's on top of the new seats we put in the Gerry Arthur stand in the last couple of years and also other general upgrades in terms of the control room, ICT and PA systems," he said.
"Croke Park and Ulster GAA have invested heavily in the latter years along with Monaghan County Board and we're looking forward to more investment to keep the upgrades and keep Clones in the picture for the Ulster Final."
Clones is considered by many in the town and province as the home of Ulster football.
Finals had been held in Casement Park in Belfast on occasion up until 1971, while the Athletics Ground in Armagh hosted a behind-closed-doors final in 2020.
The Anglo Celt Cup was also presented in Croke Park a number of times, most recently in 2021 because of Covid-19 restrictions on crowd gatherings.
There had been speculation that the fixture would return to GAA Headquarters for this year before Clones was confirmed as the host venue.
Works to redevelop Casement Park caused concern in Clones that it could lose out as a result.
Planning approval was granted 2021 for the works, with Ulster GAA earmarking Casement Park as a future provincial ground, which it said could host finals.
However the stadium plan has been stranded amidst rising costs and questions over who will pay for it.
The town, county and province would all lose out if Clones was to lose the Ulster Final, said Mr McNally.
As a businessman, he welcomes the prospect of competition to retain it.
"We'll put our best foot forward. I think Clones has a very good case to keep it here," he said.
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