Security at GAA venues

The ally cat

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

celt262

I dont agree with any off that.

The ally cat

celt262 wrote: »

I dont agree with any off that.

Would you care to say why?

Diabhal Beag

I've never been to a match in the Summer that has had disorderly crowds. Nor the League. Nor 99.9% of any club matches I've ever gone to at any time of year.

User Friendly

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

what county or province are you from Alleycat?

The big Gaa events are usually run by the event controller,involving the emergency services and trained stewards along with a host of volunteers to ensure patrons safe entry and exit from an event,in other words,the guards etc dont just turn up on the days of these games without being briefed and prepared to deal with the crowds,lots of planning go into the holding of these big games.

theoneeyedman

Typical ****e most likely informed by the hype over the last week. Hillsboro my arse...lets introduce razor wire to segregate
the supporters,better still play all these savage games behind closed doors so the children won't get hurt....will ya cop on OP

The ally cat

User Friendly wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

what county or province are you from Alleycat?

The big Gaa events are usually run by the event controller,involving the emergency services and trained stewards along with a host of volunteers to ensure patrons safe entry and exit from an event,in other words,the guards etc dont just turn up on the days of these games without being briefed and prepared to deal with the crowds,lots of planning go into the holding of these big games.

I'm in Munster but I go to matches countrywide , my understanding is that the Gardai primiarily look after the outside of the event and traffic and the GAA request gardai for inside the event depending on the predicted crowd. My understanding is that this is where the regulations are practically non existance. In the UK there are set guidelines following the tragedies . I believe there was one Garda on duty at the match in portlaoise last week end and that he only went in for a look! I just think we are going to pay the price with people's lives sometime soon in the GAA world.

The ally cat

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Typical ****e most likely informed by the hype over the last week. Hillsboro my arse...lets introduce razor wire to segregate
the supporters,better still play all these savage games behind closed doors so the children won't get hurt....will ya cop on OP

Typical attitude of soccer fans before hillsbouragh!

Hammer Archer

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed.

I don't get this chain of thought to be honest. Crowd control at GAA grounds have infinitely improved over the last few decades, in Croke Park especially. Look at the attendances for the AI finals in the fifties/sixties when crowd control was probably non existant. They went anywhere up to 90000 and yet there were no "Hillborough" like disasters.
Personally I think, while crowd control at smaller venues could obviously be improved, at the big games there's not much room for improvement.

User Friendly

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm in Munster but I go to matches countrywide , my understanding is that the Gardai primiarily look after the outside of the event and traffic and the GAA request gardai for inside the event depending on the predicted crowd. My understanding is that this is where the regulations are practically non existance. In the UK there are set guidelines following the tragedies . I believe there was one Garda on duty at the match in portlaoise last week end and that he only went in for a look! I just think we are going to pay the price with people's lives sometime soon in the GAA world.

I too am in munster and like yourself attend a lot of games.

Im finding it difficult to understand where your coming from

the entrance to last summers munster hurling final,for example,was done in such a manner that any late commers would be forced up to the sides of the terracing rather than be allowed to force their way to the centre terraces,this is a planned approach to crowd control,something most of the paying public no nothing about.
All the stewards have numbers on them,all these numbers relate to their name and they have a certain duty and place to be on the day of the event,each area of the ground is controlled by a section supervisor along with a Sargent,the lines on the terrace have a number of stewards who work with a designated guard.Again,all this is pre planned.

I have no idea how many guards attended last weeks game,does anyone know the attendance of the game? not all games require guards to attend,it is based on the size of the crowd that determines whether a guard needs to be there or not.

The ally cat

User Friendly wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm in Munster but I go to matches countrywide , my understanding is that the Gardai primiarily look after the outside of the event and traffic and the GAA request gardai for inside the event depending on the predicted crowd. My understanding is that this is where the regulations are practically non existance. In the UK there are set guidelines following the tragedies . I believe there was one Garda on duty at the match in portlaoise last week end and that he only went in for a look! I just think we are going to pay the price with people's lives sometime soon in the GAA world.

I too am in munster and like yourself attend a lot of games.

Im finding it difficult to understand where your coming from

the entrance to last summers munster hurling final,for example,was done in such a manner that any late commers would be forced up to the sides of the terracing rather than be allowed to force their way to the centre terraces,this is a planned approach to crowd control,something most of the paying public no nothing about.
All the stewards have numbers on them,all these numbers relate to their name and they have a certain duty and place to be on the day of the event,each area of the ground is controlled by a section supervisor along with a Sargent,the lines on the terrace have a number of stewards who work with a designated guard.Again,all this is pre planned.

I have no idea how many guards attended last weeks game,does anyone know the attendance of the game? not all games require guards to attend,it is based on the size of the crowd that determines whether a guard needs to be there or not.

I've no problem with Croke park it's well policed and clearly has a system, but outside of that venue its hap hazard!

bruschi

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

Do you actually know what happened with Hillsborough? It was when a load of supporters with no tickets for a terrace in a ground were ushered in by security and caused the crushing and deaths of 96 people.

How in Gods name can you compare a brawl where subs got involved with a major sporting tragedy of an over packed terraced stadium? how could you compare the deaths of 96 people to an incident where there was a couple of thousand in a seated stand? and there was no overcrowding at all.

talk about comparing apples with oranges.

User Friendly

The ally cat wrote: »

I've no problem with Croke park it's well policed and clearly has a system, but outside of that venue its hap hazard!

Eh?????? last years munster final was in Pairc ui Chaoimh...:(

The other grounds in munster, Thurles,killarney and pairc na gael limerick are as safe a grounds as any in Europe for sporting occasions.besides, safety audits are conducted on these grounds on a regular basis,the last one was last summer.

The ally cat

bruschi wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

Do you actually know what happened with Hillsborough? It was when a load of supporters with no tickets for a terrace in a ground were ushered in by security and caused the crushing and deaths of 96 people.

How in Gods name can you compare a brawl where subs got involved with a major sporting tragedy of an over packed terraced stadium? how could you compare the deaths of 96 people to an incident where there was a couple of thousand in a seated stand? and there was no overcrowding at all.

talk about comparing apples with oranges.

My point exactly, If it was properly policed the situation would have been dealt with without loss of life but sure the stick the head in the sand mentality will do us fine!

Hammer Archer

The ally cat wrote: »

My point exactly, If it was properly policed the situation would have been dealt with without loss of life but sure the stick the head in the sand mentality will do us fine!

The big games in Croker, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Thurles etc. are all organised infinitely better in terms of crowd control than Hillsborough. Every terrace has a safe capacity and when that capacity is reached, stewards will not let anyone else in. Are you actually suggesting that the GAA today cram as many people as they want into terraces during big games?

The ally cat

Hammer Archer wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

My point exactly, If it was properly policed the situation would have been dealt with without loss of life but sure the stick the head in the sand mentality will do us fine!

The big games in Croker, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Thurles etc. are all organised infinitely better in terms of crowd control than Hillsborough. Every terrace has a safe capacity and when that capacity is reached, stewards will not let anyone else in. Are you actually suggesting that the GAA today cram as many people as they want into terraces during big games?

I'm not talking about Croke park or craming in anyone anywhere, i dont know how you can arrive at that conclusion from my posts??? please read my posts its the complete opposite, there is a lack of security at the lesser venues!

User Friendly

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm not talking about Croke park or craming in anyone anywhere, i dont know how you can arrive at that conclusion from my posts??? please read my posts its the complete opposite, there is a lack of security at the lesser venues!

will you please name these venues please?

The ally cat

User Friendly wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm not talking about Croke park or craming in anyone anywhere, i dont know how you can arrive at that conclusion from my posts??? please read my posts its the complete opposite, there is a lack of security at the lesser venues!

will you please name these venues please?

All venues outside of Croke park except for when they are holding a Provential final when they generally ok, other county matches including county finals they skimp on security!

User Friendly

The ally cat wrote: »

All venues outside of Croke park except for when they are holding a Provential final when they generally ok, other county matches including county finals they skimp on security!

So now you are accepting that the major games,ie the provincial games are "generally ok" but you fear a Hillsborough type situation at county finals?

ive no more to add here,someone else can answer or clear up any fears you have because im stumped!

bruschi

The ally cat wrote: »

User Friendly wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm not talking about Croke park or craming in anyone anywhere, i dont know how you can arrive at that conclusion from my posts??? please read my posts its the complete opposite, there is a lack of security at the lesser venues!

will you please name these venues please?

All venues outside of Croke park except for when they are holding a Provential final when they generally ok, other county matches including county finals they skimp on security!

I can't remember seeing a county final where there was over crowding in the terraces with attendances over 50,000 in the grounds.

I really don't understand what you are getting at.

The ally cat

User Friendly wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

All venues outside of Croke park except for when they are holding a Provential final when they generally ok, other county matches including county finals they skimp on security!

So now you are accepting that the major games,ie the provincial games are "generally ok" but you fear a Hillsborough type situation at county finals?

ive no more to add here,someone else can answer or clear up any fears you have because im stumped!

Hillsbouragh was an example of the need for adquate security at venues, there are more dangers than just over crowding where police should be present when a large crowd is at a venue. Possible crowd trouble, threats to referees and officials you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. One garda at a junior all Ireland club semi final and he just popped in for a look at the match!

bruschi

The ally cat wrote: »

Hillsbouragh was an example of the need for adquate security at venues, there are more dangers than just over crowding where police should be present when a large crowd is at a venue. Possible crowd trouble, threats to referees and officials you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. One garda at a junior all Ireland club semi final and he just popped in for a look at the match!

you mentioned Hillsborough a few times though, and measures of security taken after it, and you are using hearsay for your case from the junior game. I see you may have some sort of a point, but it took over 20 posts in a thread to finally get it.

The ally cat

bruschi wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

Hillsbouragh was an example of the need for adquate security at venues, there are more dangers than just over crowding where police should be present when a large crowd is at a venue. Possible crowd trouble, threats to referees and officials you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure it out. One garda at a junior all Ireland club semi final and he just popped in for a look at the match!

you mentioned Hillsborough a few times though, and measures of security taken after it, and you are using hearsay for your case from the junior game. I see you may have some sort of a point, but it took over 20 posts in a thread to finally get it.

I cant help it if It took you 20 posts to get it! I thought post one was pretty clear!

Hammer Archer

The ally cat wrote: »

I cant help it if It took you 20 posts to get it! I thought post one was pretty clear!

It obviously wasn't.
However, now that I realise that you weren't implying that there would be a Hillborough type incident at provincial grounds, I do think you have a point. I'm not sure if the GAA would be able to afford a large amount of stewards/Gardai at these types of matches but I think part of the solution would be to ban supporters/substitutes for life if they engage in these kinds of things (hopping the barrier to fight or to attack the referee). These ridiculous 48 week suspensions are absolutely no deterrent at all. Even worse are the reductions in the length of suspension some of these people get on appeal like in the Rasharkin case in Antrim.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

The ally cat wrote: »

I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed.

I cant see that happening again in europe. What happened in hillsbourgh is no way related to the subs jumping over the fence. Crowd control is good everywhere becuase of hillsbourgh, lessons were learned the hard way. Supporters getting onto the pitch during a match to cause trouble is a very different story and needs to be addessed by the GAA.

killabban182

Do we really want to put up fences around the pitches again?

Personally I would hate to see fences. Also I don't get the whole Hillsborough comparison.

bruschi

The ally cat wrote: »

I cant help it if It took you 20 posts to get it! I thought post one was pretty clear!

you said we'd have our own hillsbourgh/Hillsbouragh (sic) before security is addressed, yet now you say this is not what you meant and you were talking about crowd trouble, threats to referees and officials.

you mention that you are mainly talking about the bigger matches during the summer, yet you then go on to say you dont mean Croke Park, and you mean other games that arent provincial finals and county finals


yes, your fist post was very clear and concise as to what you were talking about. :rolleyes:

Flancrest

Being a Meath fan I've got to travel to games all over the country for qualifiers in the last few years. I attend most of these games with my girlfriend (trying to educate a Dub on proper football) and at no time have I felt we were in any danger due to lack of orgainising or security. A large part of the GAA is the fact you can be sitting beside fans of the opposing team and have a bit of banter about the game. The last thing we need is some security plan for fan segragation.
The point about the Guard just popping in to see the match is rediculous. How could you possibly know this.
Stop reading tabloid hype about what were in fairness terrible scenes but in the grand scale of things are very unusual at GAA matches.

keane2097

This is plainly a trolling attempt.

Flancrest

keane2097 wrote: »

This is plainly a trolling attempt.

Me or the OP

keane2097

OP

The ally cat

keane2097 wrote: »

OP

I just raised an issue that concerns me as a GAA fan and ex player, but if that's trolling then I guess I must be trolling.

keane2097

The ally cat wrote: »

I just raised an issue that concerns me as a GAA fan and ex player, but if that's trolling then I guess I must be trolling.

There's no issue.

HTH

The ally cat

keane2097 wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

I just raised an issue that concerns me as a GAA fan and ex player, but if that's trolling then I guess I must be trolling.

There's no issue.

HTH

In your opinion! I disagree however! But time will tell.

keane2097

The ally cat wrote: »

In your opinion! I disagree however! But time will tell.

Time has already told. People have been attending GAA events for 125 years. Nothing ever happens.

JazzyJ

Hammer Archer wrote: »

I don't get this chain of thought to be honest. Crowd control at GAA grounds have infinitely improved over the last few decades, in Croke Park especially. Look at the attendances for the AI finals in the fifties/sixties when crowd control was probably non existant. They went anywhere up to 90000 and yet there were no "Hillborough" like disasters.
Personally I think, while crowd control at smaller venues could obviously be improved, at the big games there's not much room for improvement.

To be honest I think there was a fair bit of luck that no one got seriously injured back then. My father talks about being at all-irelands back in '70s in the Canal End and serious crushes going on and of being lifted of his feet - he's no small man either.

Crowd control is infinitely better these days in somewhere like Croke Park. There's no chance of a Hillsborough these days on somewhere like the Hill - even with the new see through barricade.

The majority of supporters at games get on great and its certainly something that I'd never like to see changed.

The ally cat

keane2097 wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

In your opinion! I disagree however! But time will tell.

Time has already told. People have been attending GAA events for 125 years. Nothing ever happens.

Pull of your blinkers!!!

keane2097

The ally cat wrote: »

Pull of your blinkers!!!

Compelling argument, you've convinced me.

The ally cat

keane2097 wrote: »

The ally cat wrote: »

Pull of your blinkers!!!

Compelling argument, you've convinced me.

I'm sorry but your counter argument hasn't convinced me!

premierstone

The ally cat wrote: »

I'm sorry but your counter argument hasn't convinced me!

There is no need for a counter argument cos you have merely pulled something from nowhere with no basis or logic and ran with it, scaremongering at best and horse sh*t at worst

StephenHendry

The ally cat wrote: »

This raised its head with the junior All Ireland debacle last weekend.
It's my opinion that the GAA are chancing their arm week end week out at venues throughout the country. I'm talking about the biggers matches especially in the summer. I believe we will have to have our own hillsbourgh before this is addressed. There is a total lack of gardai on the ground at these venues, there are yellow bibs handed out to every tom dick and Harry in a hap hazard way in some venues and they try their best but I believe it's a question of not wanting to pay for the gardai who do duty inside the venues, surely patrons entering such venues deserve adquate security and indeed the players as we seen from last weekend. Just a thought!

i don't agree OP, Hillsborough was primarily caused by very poor stewarding , gates of the terracing at the leppings lane end not being opened which led to overcrowding at a certain section and very few people at other, less full section.

stewarding , security at gaa venues has actually improved. terraces have been done up party as a result of what happened at hillsborough. i mean we are one the few countries, germany being the other (terracing in the bundesliga) that with good stewarding , you can have people on the terraces in reasonable numbers and it being safe for supporters.

all big matches are ticke affairs, unlike years ago where you turned up on the day , say in the early 80s and then you could have a serious situation of overcrowding in the terraces.

that incident at the weekend (Junior club teams from kerry and tyrone) has been blown out of proportion imo, some silly stuff said , mainly overhyped BS in the media. the cause of which is mainly down to the players involved and not the stewards, security staff

kksaints

Wasnt there a match a few years ago between Cork and Tipp where a terrace behind the goal got overcrowded and fans had to sit on the pitch? In general tho there is not that much problem with terracing.

premierstone

kksaints wrote: »

Wasnt there a match a few years ago between Cork and Tipp where a terrace behind the goal got overcrowded and fans had to sit on the pitch? In general tho there is not that much problem with terracing.

There was, below in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, it is a dump in fairness and plans are a foot for its replacement, capacity has officialy been decreased twice since that incident aswell.

StephenHendry

kksaints wrote: »

Wasnt there a match a few years ago between Cork and Tipp where a terrace behind the goal got overcrowded and fans had to sit on the pitch? In general tho there is not that much problem with terracing.

you're right, it was the 2005 munster hurling final. i was down in the town end with our own lot, they let too many into the blackrock end.

The_Banker

I saw this thread and I was a bit reluctant to get involved. Mainly because I have gotten involved in threads before in relation to this issue and there is a fear that I might be seen as a one issue pony and therefore my argument may not have any credibility.

Anyway, with that in mind I cant resist and here goes.

For the most part I think GAA grounds are safe. I have been to most of them and so I feel I can comment. Croke Park is a model of good practice. The way the terracing is organised on a big match day is excellent. When one section fills up people are diverted to another section. At the base of the terrace there are spotters whose only job is to look up at Hill 16 and observe the crowd for messers or anyone who may cause problems. They do an excellent job.

With regards to other County grounds around the country I think they are safe mostly because they are never full anymore. Limericks’ Gaelic grounds have never been full in the last 10 years. Thurles is rarely if ever full anymore but while the terracing isn’t great I do think the stewards there do a good job.
Killarney, Pearse Stadium and Cusack Park again are rarely full anytime I have been recently but there have been problems there previously when capacity was full. I have never been to Clones so I wont comment there.

My one pet hate is my own County ground here in Cork: Pairc Ui Chaoimh. How there was not a tragedy in that ground is only through good luck. Thankfully the capacity has now been reduced (rumours are to a mere 18,000).

• Within the seating in the two stands there is no leg room. To try and rectify that it was decided to cut away part of the back to the seats.
• The amount of turnstiles to enter the ground are not adequate for large numbers entering the ground.
• On the uncovered stand side, especially at the City end its too narrow for the crowds that congregate especially as there is a stream that runs parallel to the stand.
• The outside concourse is broken and uneven. It was never finished off after the build in the mid 70s.
• Stewarding is exceptionally poor. I have seen prams inside the ground. How are they let in? Stewards only steward until the game begins, then give up the pretence to watch the game. There are never stewards under the terrace or stands. Every steward should have an identity number on his bib. This never happens in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
• The entrances’ onto the terrace are too low down. They should have been placed higher up so the crowds could filter better onto the terrace. There are also not enough of them. Even after a small game where the attendance is 5,000 is can take to long to exit.
• There were always too many people on the terraces. Attendance figures that are called out at games are openly laughed at by the people in attendance.
• Tickets for sale on match day are sold from two broken down caravans where the queues for tickets merge with queues of people trying to enter the actual game. I have seen games where the attendance in the low 20,000s were delayed due to crowd congestion outside.
• Whenever there is a capacity crowd in Pairc Ui Chaoimh the following weeks news media in Cork is inundated with complains. Prendervilles radio show is jammed with callers and the letters to the editor of the Evening Echo go up by 10%. Yet the Cork County Board tell people they are imagining the problems.
• The last two big games involving Cork V Tipperary in Hurling required allowing patron onto the field of play to ensure there wasn’t a crush in the Blackrock end.


Due to the issues listed above I have stopped going to Pairc Ui Chaoimh. I simply would not risk mine or my families lives to attend a sporting fixture there.

The ally cat

Horrific scenes on TV at the moment re a match in Egypt, 73 dead so far after crowd trouble / riot at a stadium. I know it's not GAA but when you have large crowds at venues you need adquate security / police. Hillsborough / bradford seems to be repeating itself in modern time sadly. I really think we should have stong guidelines and x amount of security / police for particular sizes of crowds as a standard!

User Friendly

StephenHendry wrote: »

you're right, it was the 2005 munster hurling final. i was down in the town end with our own lot, they let too many into the blackrock end.

I think that was 2008? and can i tell you,they didnt let too many into the Blackrock end,the cork fans were late coming to the game as usual,those who did enter the ground,just stood inside the exit tunnel.

as you know,patrons enter the ground at the bottom and have to walk up the terrace.The patrons who enter the ground have to share some responsibilty when they enter the grounds,if 2,3,4 lads decide that they wont move from a certain spot,time, mabe 20/30 seconds,is taken up by a steward trying to move them off the yellow walkways,in this time,dozens of people have been backed up and at this stage the army wont move a drink fulled,non compliant crowd who have zero interest in walking up 30 or 40 steps and keeping off the walkways which are painted yellow.

From that day, the Gaa along with the Fai and IRFU, came together and sent lads on training courses in crowd control,these people have oranged coloured bibs (well the munster council stewards were orange bibs)and usually stand in the terraces,ive already stated that these bibs have numbers that relates to a name and an area that they are responsible for,if anyone has an issue with a steward,then they can be easily identified should a complaint be necessary.stewarding at munster council games has improved a hell of a lot in the last few years and is getting better all the time.

The_Banker

User Friendly wrote: »

I think that was 2008? and can i tell you,they didnt let too many into the Blackrock end,the cork fans were late coming to the game as usual,those who did enter the ground,just stood inside the exit tunnel.
as you know,patrons enter the ground at the bottom and have to walk up the terrace.The patrons who enter the ground have to share some responsibilty when they enter the grounds,if 2,3,4 lads decide that they wont move from a certain spot,time, mabe 20/30 seconds,is taken up by a steward trying to move them off the yellow walkways,in this time,dozens of people have been backed up and at this stage the army wont move a drink fulled,non compliant crowd who have zero interest in walking up 30 or 40 steps and keeping off the walkways which are painted yellow.

From that day, the Gaa along with the Fai and IRFU, came together and sent lads on training courses in crowd control,these people have oranged coloured bibs (well the munster council stewards were orange bibs)and usually stand in the terraces,ive already stated that these bibs have numbers that relates to a name and an area that they are responsible for,if anyone has an issue with a steward,then they can be easily identified should a complaint be necessary.stewarding at munster council games has improved a hell of a lot in the last few years and is getting better all the time.

Any modern stadium and any highly trained stewards should be able to accommadate late arrivals.
If the stadium or the stewards cant then both the stadium and stewards are not fit for purpose.

User Friendly

The_Banker wrote: »

Any modern stadium and any highly trained stewards should be able to accommadate late arrivals.
If the stadium or the stewards cant then both the stadium and stewards are not fit for purpose.

As you may well know,Pairc ui chaoimh is anything but modern.

Like ive mentioned in one of my first posts,the issues in Patrons entering the stadium in a safe manner have been adressed.
What doesnt help with the likes of Pairc u C is where the entrance to the terraces are,they are at the bottom,where as in thurles,the fans enter from the top and its so easy for people to walk down steps than it is for lads to walk up.
Again,as ive said earlier,all the grounds have safety audits,Pairc ui C is deemed safe,it may be a kip,well it is a kip,but its deemed a safe kip:o
As for the late commers,this is common,happens every season.You wouldnt have any problems if the patrons complied with the stewards and guards requests. Guys who only go to 1 big match a year or every other year,cant understand these lads in bibs telling them they cants stand there or they must move off the yellow line.For everything to run safely,it need the co operation of the public.

I ll just address the point youve made on highly trained stewards.The stewards job is to oversee the safe entrance and exit of patrons and to help the emergency services if required.
The munster council stewards have to do a mock project from their home and in their own time,they also have to attend a 2 day training course,which may or may not result in A fetac certificate in sports stadium stewarding.
The stewards are volunteers,they can only be trained to a certain level,its match day experience that makes a good steward.Most munster council stewards are fairly experienced at this stage and are pretty good at their job.
The days of auld lads sitting around and abandoning their posts is being weeded out and i know that the Munster council have and are addressing this.

Do you go to Gaa games yourself?

StephenHendry

The_Banker wrote: »

I saw this thread and I was a bit reluctant to get involved. Mainly because I have gotten involved in threads before in relation to this issue and there is a fear that I might be seen as a one issue pony and therefore my argument may not have any credibility.

Anyway, with that in mind I cant resist and here goes.

For the most part I think GAA grounds are safe. I have been to most of them and so I feel I can comment. Croke Park is a model of good practice. The way the terracing is organised on a big match day is excellent. When one section fills up people are diverted to another section. At the base of the terrace there are spotters whose only job is to look up at Hill 16 and observe the crowd for messers or anyone who may cause problems. They do an excellent job.

With regards to other County grounds around the country I think they are safe mostly because they are never full anymore. Limericks’ Gaelic grounds have never been full in the last 10 years. Thurles is rarely if ever full anymore but while the terracing isn’t great I do think the stewards there do a good job.
Killarney, Pearse Stadium and Cusack Park again are rarely full anytime I have been recently but there have been problems there previously when capacity was full. I have never been to Clones so I wont comment there.

My one pet hate is my own County ground here in Cork: Pairc Ui Chaoimh. How there was not a tragedy in that ground is only through good luck. Thankfully the capacity has now been reduced (rumours are to a mere 18,000).

• Within the seating in the two stands there is no leg room. To try and rectify that it was decided to cut away part of the back to the seats.
• The amount of turnstiles to enter the ground are not adequate for large numbers entering the ground.
• On the uncovered stand side, especially at the City end its too narrow for the crowds that congregate especially as there is a stream that runs parallel to the stand.
• The outside concourse is broken and uneven. It was never finished off after the build in the mid 70s.
• Stewarding is exceptionally poor. I have seen prams inside the ground. How are they let in? Stewards only steward until the game begins, then give up the pretence to watch the game. There are never stewards under the terrace or stands. Every steward should have an identity number on his bib. This never happens in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
• The entrances’ onto the terrace are too low down. They should have been placed higher up so the crowds could filter better onto the terrace. There are also not enough of them. Even after a small game where the attendance is 5,000 is can take to long to exit.
• There were always too many people on the terraces. Attendance figures that are called out at games are openly laughed at by the people in attendance.
• Tickets for sale on match day are sold from two broken down caravans where the queues for tickets merge with queues of people trying to enter the actual game. I have seen games where the attendance in the low 20,000s were delayed due to crowd congestion outside.
• Whenever there is a capacity crowd in Pairc Ui Chaoimh the following weeks news media in Cork is inundated with complains. Prendervilles radio show is jammed with callers and the letters to the editor of the Evening Echo go up by 10%. Yet the Cork County Board tell people they are imagining the problems.
• The last two big games involving Cork V Tipperary in Hurling required allowing patron onto the field of play to ensure there wasn’t a crush in the Blackrock end.


Due to the issues listed above I have stopped going to Pairc Ui Chaoimh. I simply would not risk mine or my families lives to attend a sporting fixture there.

agree with you. paric ui chaoimh is the worse offender. even the recent munster final, everything is so hap hazard and chaotic in terms of organgisation compared to other grounds. even the path, road to ground you would think you are walking through some abandoned, disusued industrial estate that hasn't been used in 20 yrs , then you get to the ground and still the same delays.


semple stadium has done a lot of really good work , the areas outside the ground as you are going in. you know where you are going etc. i still think the terracing areas, the killinan end could and should be redeveloped.

i suppose the pairc being planned for re-development is a positive nonetheless