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RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Behind the Story: The 'massive scramble' for All-Ireland final tickets
It's All-Ireland Football final week as Kerry and Donegal fans gear up for Croke Park on Sunday. RTÉ's GAA Correspondent Marty Morrissey told Behind the Story where all the tickets go – and why it can be so hard to get them. "It is difficult to get tickets, and I understand the frustration and the anger," he told Fran and David. "There's 82,300 tickets to go into Croke Park – that's the capacity crowd. "The two contesting teams roughly get 20,000 tickets each. "All the teams in the finals, despite it happening year after years, are spoilt when it comes to semi-finals because they can get 40,000 each really. "But when it comes All-Ireland finals, there is a process [where] tickets go to every unit of the GAA nationwide and abroad." Marty says ticket allocations quickly add up and the policy of sending tickets to all counties can frustrate fans from the two teams playing in the final. 10,000 tickets in the stadium are also for the corporate and premium sections. "The GAA that I was brought up in didn't have the corporate boxes; this is the world we live in," he said. "For the GAA to survive – or any organisation – it is about money. "I will say that the GAA do one good thing: everything goes back to the clubs." Marty said he believes every GAA fan should get the chance to experience an All-Ireland final once in their lifetime. "You don't have to be from Donegal or Kerry on Sunday to appreciate the pride that comes with even the parade, even the cheer," he said. "I've been lucky in my lifetime to see Clare win a couple of All-Irelands and to see that saffron and blue running out on to the pitch. "To see your neighbours running on to the pitch is truly historical and emotional." You can watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.


Irish Independent
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Drogheda United cup final goal hero Andrew Quinn eager to make more lifelong memories
Meath native Andrew Quinn was in Croke Park on Sunday afternoon to see the Royals humbled by mighty Donegal in the All-Ireland Football semi-final and many analysts are predicting that his Drogheda United team will put FAI Cup opponents Crumlin United to the sword in equally comprehensive manner on Friday night. However, the 23-year-old defender from Dunshaughlin insists the holders won't be taking the Leinster Senior League club lightly when they begin the defence of their crown at Sullivan & Lambe Park.


Irish Daily Mirror
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Louth boss opens up on full extent of navigational howler that delayed side
Louth boss Ger Brennan has revealed the full extent of Louth's navigational mishap that caused them to arrive late at the stadium for their All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final against Donegal. The Wee County arrived at Ballybofey just 45 minutes before throw-in, while there were concerns that the match wouldn't throw-in at its scheduled 4 pm time. As it turns out, the Louth team bus took the wrong turn heading from their hotel in Enniskillen. Instead of travelling up towards Donegal, they went west towards Sligo. "A human error in our navigation," Brennan told reporters after Sunday's loss. Brennan revealed that the total journey took two hours and 20 minutes, rather than the one hour it would have taken to drive from Enniskillen to Ballybofey. Had Louth travelled from their own Centre of Excellence, it would have taken them roughly the same journey time as today's drive. Louth did come out of the traps slowly after falling 0-05 to 0-01 behind but bounced back to bring the game back to 0-06 a piece. Conor O'Donnell's goal gave Donegal a lead, only for the Leinster Champions to battle hard and go into the break just two points behind. However, Jim McGuinness's side established themselves as one of the teams to beat after a commanding second-half performance to run out 2-22 to 0-12 winners. Donegal now go into Monday's All-Ireland Football quarter-final draw, where they can face either Meath or Monaghan, while Kerry will face Armagh.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
New documentary explores GAA referee abuse
A new documentary which shines a light on the abuse directed at Gaelic football referees will be broadcast on the BBC this weekend. Réiteoir!, produced by Macha Media for BBC Gaeilge and RTE with support from Northern Ireland Screen's Irish Language Broadcast Fund, will be shown on BBC Two NI and the BBC iPlayer on Sunday at 22:00 GMT. In the hour-long documentary, broadcaster Gráinne McElwain explores the challenges that come with being a modern GAA referee by following officials David Gough, Siobhán Coyle and Eoghan Ó Muircheartaigh throughout the 2024 season. The documentary considers the emotional toll of the abuse on referees and reveals findings from a recent Ulster University study, led by Dr Noel Brick. As part of Dr Brick's study, 96% of referees said they had received verbal abuse at some point during their career, with 20% claiming they had received physical abuse. In a follow-up study focused on the 2022-23 season, 88% of referees said they had experienced verbal abuse, a statistic Dr Brick said was "shockingly high". A 'cultural problem' that 'impacts mentally' - GAA referees discuss abuse GAA referee David Gough on self-acceptance 10 years after coming out Gough, who took charge of the 2019 and 2023 All-Ireland Football finals, forms a big part of the documentary's focus. Having refereed for nearly 20 years, Gough is used to the verbal abuse that is directed at officials, but he admits the mistakes he has made have lived with him. In the 2016 All-Ireland football semi-final, Gough missed an obvious foul by Dublin's Kevin McManamon on Kerry's Peter Crowley, allowing Dublin to go up the other end of the field and score. Gough's line of sight was blocked by Dublin's Michael Fitzsimons, and after Dublin won the match by two points, the referee faced a torrent of abuse from Kerry fans. "After 2016, I think it really affected my mental health. It took me a long time to come back to refereeing after that game," reflected Gough. "It was terrible walking from the pitch that day. There were programmes and bottles being thrown from the Cusack Stand and it was very difficult to come back after that game. "I was worried about going on to the pitch. I knew I had made a huge mistake and maybe people didn't have the same confidence in my refereeing any longer and that was very difficult for me." Gough, the first openly gay referee to take charge of the All-Ireland final, also revealed that letters containing homophobic abuse were sent to his family home and read by his parents. "The people who are important to me are my umpires, the other referees and my family," he said. "But when the letters come to your house, it was very hard, especially on my Dad and on my Mam. My Mam and my Dad knew they were bad letters. "I'm not comfortable with that language but I've heard it. But for my family to see those words, and to read those words written about me, that's very difficult for them." In the documentary, McElwain also speaks to sports analyst Fearghal Mag Uiginn, GAA president Jarlath Burns and sports psychologist and former Galway county hurler Justin Campbell. Watch Réiteoir! on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer at 22:00 GMT on Sunday, 2 March.


BBC News
28-02-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
New documentary explores GAA referee abuse
A new documentary which shines a light on the abuse directed at Gaelic football referees will be broadcast on the BBC this weekend. Réiteoir!, produced by Macha Media for BBC Gaeilge and RTE with support from Northern Ireland Screen's Irish Language Broadcast Fund, will be shown on BBC Two NI and the BBC iPlayer on Sunday at 22:00 GMT. In the hour-long documentary, broadcaster Gráinne McElwain explores the challenges that come with being a modern GAA referee by following officials David Gough, Siobhán Coyle and Eoghan Ó Muircheartaigh throughout the 2024 season. The documentary considers the emotional toll of the abuse on referees and reveals findings from a recent Ulster University study, led by Dr Noel part of Dr Brick's study, 96% of referees said they had received verbal abuse at some point during their career, with 20% claiming they had received physical a follow-up study focused on the 2022-23 season, 88% of referees said they had experienced verbal abuse, a statistic Dr Brick said was "shockingly high". Gough, who took charge of the 2019 and 2023 All-Ireland Football finals, forms a big part of the documentary's focus. Having refereed for nearly 20 years, Gough is used to the verbal abuse that is directed at officials, but he admits the mistakes he has made have lived with him. In the 2016 All-Ireland football semi-final, Gough missed an obvious foul by Dublin's Kevin McManamon on Kerry's Peter Crowley, allowing Dublin to go up the other end of the field and score. Gough's line of sight was blocked by Dublin's Michael Fitzsimons, and after Dublin won the match by two points, the referee faced a torrent of abuse from Kerry fans. "After 2016, I think it really affected my mental health. It took me a long time to come back to refereeing after that game," reflected Gough. "It was terrible walking from the pitch that day. There were programmes and bottles being thrown from the Cusack Stand and it was very difficult to come back after that game."I was worried about going on to the pitch. I knew I had made a huge mistake and maybe people didn't have the same confidence in my refereeing any longer and that was very difficult for me." Gough, the first openly gay referee to take charge of the All-Ireland final, also revealed that letters containing homophobic abuse were sent to his family home and read by his parents."The people who are important to me are my umpires, the other referees and my family," he said."But when the letters come to your house, it was very hard, especially on my Dad and on my Mam. My Mam and my Dad knew they were bad letters."I'm not comfortable with that language but I've heard it. But for my family to see those words, and to read those words written about me, that's very difficult for them."In the documentary, McElwain also speaks to sports analyst Fearghal Mag Uiginn, GAA president Jarlath Burns and sports psychologist and former Galway county hurler Justin Réiteoir! on BBC Two Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer at 22:00 GMT on Sunday, 2 March.