Bank holiday bill for Munster clash

GAELIC GAMES NEWS 2010 FIXTURES:THE GAA'S fixture list for next year features one departure from tradition with the Munster Council set to stage its first bank holiday championship fixture. The eagerly awaited meeting of Waterford, managed by David Fitzgerald, and his own county, Clare, has been scheduled for Monday, June 7th.

“This will be the first time we’ve used a bank holiday,” said provincial CEO Pat Fitzgerald. “There is a lot of fixtures congestion around that time.

“We were trying to work out with our colleagues in other provinces the best way to accommodate the games and the television coverage, which is important for promotional reasons. Ultimately we felt that this was the best option.”

On the same weekend a rerun of last September’s All-Ireland football final between Cork and Kerry is on the cards should the All-Ireland champions defeat Tipperary.

One aspect of bank holiday Monday afternoons that won’t suit spectators is the heavy traffic but according to Fitzgerald, that wasn’t a major factor in the deliberations.

“We felt we had to move it from the Sunday and the situation is generally worse on Saturdays with shopping traffic so we’re hopeful that this will be successful.”

Experience would support the council’s view. Saturday fixtures in Munster have been chaotic in the past with towns like Ennis choking up with gridlock and Killarney notoriously in 2004 becoming almost impenetrable with cars stuck for hours along the roads into the town for the Cork-Tipperary hurling qualifier.

According to Fitzgerald, whereas the counties would have preferred to play on a Sunday they recognised the dilemma facing the council. “Our options were tight and both counties understood the difficulties.”

A number of fixtures haven’t yet been finalised. According to Croke Park press officer Alan Milton, that is related to the working out of broadcast schedule details. He said: “There are very few but where it has happened is generally because television companies have proposed Saturday matches and that needs to be further ratified by the councils.”

Next October sees the return of International Rules and the likelihood of a Croke Park test played for the first time under lights. Three years ago the Australians played the first floodlit test in Ireland at Galway’s Pearse Stadium but the second match took place on a conventional Sunday afternoon.

Dermot Power, the GAA’s commercial and marketing manager, said that the experience of playing under lights had been very positive. “It worked very well and was seen as an ideal opportunity to use the floodlights in the Gaelic Grounds until the Australians pulled out of this year’s series. Nothing has been finalised for next year but we are interested in the idea of staging the Dublin test at night.”

The dates for the series in the fixtures’ list are 23rd and 30th October, both Saturdays. It is likely that Limerick will be asked to host the other test, given that the county was ready to do so this year until the series was deferred.

The championship begins on May 2nd with Galway travelling to New York. A week later Lá na gClub, the dedicated club day which was a successful innovation for this year’s GAA 125 celebrations, will again take place with the championship getting into stride a week after that with the Ulster clash of Derry and Armagh.

One promotional initiative that won’t be persevered with is the staging of all four senior club semi-finals on the same weekend. That was tried this year but having reviewed the situation Croke Park’s CCCC have decided to revert to separate weekends for hurling and football, both to be played alongside a round of National League fixtures.