If all the fans rush towards the new fence will they have to open it?

bigpink

Everyone will rush down the Hill so will they open the new fence then?

baztard

yeah probably, you wouldn't really want to be in the middle of the that crush though, bloody dangerous.

questionmark?

I believe they call that Plan B.

I cant see it being a huge problem for tomorrows football semi but come the hurling final the fans will want to be on the pitch. Could you imagine Kilkenny fans if they achieve the five in a row or the Tipperary fans winning a first all-ireland since 2001 and doing it beating Kilkenny, never mind the fact of stopping a five in a row!

If they dont open the gates quickly enough there will be injury. A stupid fence from a by-gone era.

Flukey

Hopefully they'll get rid of it before tomorrow, so that it can be part of a very short-lived bygone era.

mrgaa1

bigpink wrote: »

Everyone will rush down the Hill so will they open the new fence then?

why would they rush? Everyone knows that the new fence is there for a reason so common sense should mean that people will not rush. Its not as if we don't all know about the new fences. I can't see any reason why so called fans would want to rush. If I was a Die-Hard Kilkenny supporter and standing in the hill as they get their 5-in-a-row I'd want to see this team parade around the field showing to all what they've done. I wouldn't want to see thousands trying to get on the field, no matter how, tramping over each other or worse being trampled on.
All those attending need to get a grip of reality. The GAA, Croke Park, H&S authorities have all approved this fence. They are not going to back down over this.

sid waddell

Do people here think that the fence will:

i) make things safer for spectators
ii) make things more dangerous for spectators

Considering that from underage all the way up, at every level, the tradition has always been to celebrate on the pitch, I think I know which option I would vote for.

dotsflan

sid waddell wrote: »

Do people here think that the fence will:

i) make things safer for spectators
ii) make things more dangerous for spectators

Considering that from underage all the way up, at every level, the tradition has always been to celebrate on the pitch, I think I know which option I would vote for.

its making it safer for the spectators and the players. nearly all intercounty players are in agreement that they dont like people rushing onto the field after they have given their all for 70 + mins. they want to be able to celebrate with their team mates who they have been training with all year

Speak Now

sid waddell wrote: »

Do people here think that the fence will:

i) make things safer for spectators
ii) make things more dangerous for spectators

Considering that from underage all the way up, at every level, the tradition has always been to celebrate on the pitch, I think I know which option I would vote for.

ii)

sid waddell

dotsflan wrote: »

its making it safer for the spectators and the players. nearly all intercounty players are in agreement that they dont like people rushing onto the field after they have given their all for 70 + mins. they want to be able to celebrate with their team mates who they have been training with all year

The top brass in the GPA were hardly likely to go against Croke Park on this after gaining official recognition. There wasn't a vote amongst players and in fact more players have come out in favour of fans celebrating on the pitch.

After last year's All-Ireland Hurling Final Michael Fennelly was interviewed and said he was happy that Kilkenny supporters were on the pitch to share in the four in a row glory.

Eddie Brennan who is a prominent GPA member and a Garda has echoed that view. So have DJ Carey, Lar Corbett and Gizzy Lyng.

Peter Canavan, a founding member of the GPA has spoken in favour pitch celebrations in clear and unequivocal language.

Senan Connell said that Dublin's 2002 Leinster Championship win was not the same as the 2005 win because Dublin supporters were not on the pitch to celebrate whereas they were in 2005.

Benny Coulter is another high profile player in favour of pitch celebrations.

Ditto Mickey Harte and Sean Boylan.

I stand to be corrected but apart from Sean Cavanagh, Marc O'Se and PJ Ryan I'm not aware of any other players that have come out against it.

Obviously I'm in favour of pitch celebrations but for me the fence is almost a separate issue. It would be a clear safety hazard even if there was not a culture of pitch celebrations.

But the fact is that the culture of pitch celebrations exists, so it's even more of a hazard. There will be a large build up of people at the bottom of the Hill after the hurling final. That is a certainty. To place a 2.8 metre Mountjoy-esque steel bar barrier in a position where there the authorities know there will be a crush is the height of irresponsibilty.

Cooney, McKenna and Duffy will have to live with their conscience if people are injured or, heaven forbid, killed.

By the way I am in favour of the players having four or five minutes to gather themselves and make their way to the presentation area. This is the sensible compromise solution that hasn't even been entertained and instead dismissed in favour of the nuclear option of steel fencing.

Flukey

mrgaa1 wrote: »

Everyone knows that the new fence is there for a reason so common sense should mean that people will not rush. Its not as if we don't all know about the new fences.
...
All those attending need to get a grip of reality. The GAA, Croke Park, H&S authorities have all approved this fence. They are not going to back down over this.

Common sense would mean there would not be a fence. The crowds won't back down on this. No fence is going to stop them. So as I put said in another thread, they should try to manage rather than prevent pitch invasions.

Meanwhile, in another piece of genius from the powers that be, they want to ban victory speeches by minor teams. It is getting more ridiculous all the time. There is of course one foolproof way of stopping speeches and pitch invasions: Ban matches in Croke Park.

sid waddell

Flukey wrote: »

Meanwhile, in another piece of genius from the powers that be, they want to ban victory speeches by minor teams. It is getting more ridiculous all the time. There is of course one foolproof way of stopping speeches and pitch invasions: Ban matches in Croke Park.

The three stooges won't be happy until the presentations are as shallow and phoney as their rugby friends' ones.

A podium on the pitch with a Vodafone logo in the background, no speech, fireworks and a lap of honour. Urrgh.

Flukey

Starting with the 1999 All-Ireland Hurling Final, they tried on-pitch presentations. Thankfully, Armagh's fans put an end to that in 2002. It was a wonderful sight. On-pitch presentations should never happen again. There is just under an hour and a half to the minor match. Hopefully work has already started on taking that stupid fence down, or they have it finished by the time the minor teams come onto the pitch. That'll be the next thing they stop. Warm-ups will have to be on the sidelines, and eventually in the dressing rooms, to stop teams invading the pitch before the game.

Stinicker

Flukey wrote: »

Starting with the 1999 All-Ireland Hurling Final, they tried on-pitch presentations. Thankfully, Armagh's fans put an end to that in 2002. It was a wonderful sight. On-pitch presentations should never happen again. There is just under an hour and a half to the minor match. Hopefully work has already started on taking that stupid fence down, or they have it finished by the time the minor teams come onto the pitch. That'll be the next thing they stop. Warm-ups will have to be on the sidelines, and eventually in the dressing rooms, to stop teams invading the pitch before the game.

I hope that both Kildare and Down fans invade the pitch this evening after the match and break down that fence. Both Counties have achieved massively this year and win lose or draw they deserve their time on the pitch like Kerry, Kilkenny and Tyrone supporters.

The GAA are setting things up for major confrontation and someone will eventually get killed because of their refusal to intergrate and managed field invasions into the spectacle. Hypoethically lets imagine this, the year is 2011, Kerry and Down are in the All-Ireland final both teams have a point to prove.

Mid way through the second Half Down scores a goal giving them the lead, an almighty cheer erupts, but soon turns to horror, 50 miles off Cardigan Bay in Wales a magnitude 7 Earthquake has shook the entire coastline of the Irish sea, the top cover of the Hogan stand has become dislodged and is fallling down on the lower section. Panic ensues and people try to rush away from the stand only to be held back by fences and side netting, early estimates put the death toll at 20,000 crushed by the stand before they could escape onto the field.

It is a simply health and safety issue to have a hindrance to access to the pitch, in the event of a crush there can be a safe exit onto the pitch allowing for easy management of the situation. With the dissident situation in Northern Ireland also as it is it may be only a matter of time before Loyalist paramilitaries rearm and with Ulster teams enjoying success, Croke Park could very well become a legitimate target to them for a large bomb. Imagine the carnage of a loyalist bomb in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day, more people would likely be killed by the GAA's own barriers and crush than the bomb itself.

The barriers must come down and so must all efforts to stop pitch invasions.

johnmcdnl

no pitch invasion today - looks like the barriers will be staying

KevIRL

johnmcdnl wrote: »

no pitch invasion today - looks like the barriers will be staying

When is there ever a pitch invasion after a semi final?

I dont even remember there being one in 2008 when we (Waterford) won a semi final at last. Maybe a handful of people but thats it. The only pitch invasions are after a team wins a final.

Flukey

Yes, it will be after the final that people will invade from Cage 16 or Hillsborough 16, whichever you now want to call it.

Flukey

Stinicker wrote: »

Hypoethically lets imagine this, the year is 2011, Kerry and Down are in the All-Ireland final both teams have a point to prove.

Mid way through the second Half Down scores a goal giving them the lead, an almighty cheer erupts, but soon turns to horror, 50 miles off Cardigan Bay in Wales a magnitude 7 Earthquake has shook the entire coastline of the Irish sea, the top cover of the Hogan stand has become dislodged and is fallling down on the lower section. Panic ensues and people try to rush away from the stand only to be held back by fences and side netting, early estimates put the death toll at 20,000 crushed by the stand before they could escape onto the field.

Ah now Stinicker, now that really is far-fetched. You don't seriously expect us to believe that could happen, do you? It is absolutely ridiculous to think that that could happen. That really is stretching the bounds of reality. Kerry in the 2011 All-Ireland final?

Lifelike

sid waddell wrote: »

Do people here think that the fence will:

i) make things safer for spectators
ii) make things more dangerous for spectators

Considering that from underage all the way up, at every level, the tradition has always been to celebrate on the pitch, I think I know which option I would vote for.

Why not start a poll?

Diabhal Beag

I think we'll have trouble for both All-Irelands

Ian_K

If the rebels win i'll gladly give it a go!