All Ireland Presentations to be on the Pitch

[Minder]

Its PR from the GAA now, let the fans think they have ruined the pitch, pathetic.

Exactly.

[An Gaeilgoir]

I have been reading the posts on here for a while now and as a Mayo man i dont think we will be running on to the pitch to see our county pick up Sam any time soon. of course there is the tradition of runnig on to the pitch at the end of the game, we used to have the tradition of having 10 pints and driving home from the pubs, but that has stopped. i dont buy into this tradition thing at all, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace, in Australia if anyone runs on to the pitch they are fined 5000 dollars and banned for ten years. There are no doubt commercial issues as to why the presentation is moving center pitch, but as someone who deals with insurance claims and insurance companies on an almost daily basis, let no one be under any illusion about the amount of claims that will be lodged follwoing sundays incident, especially now there is a recession on. Say for instance some lads claims he slipped on the wet pitch on Sunday, hurt the back and is out of work for a couple of weeks, it doesn't take long for the amounts to add up. The GAA have under health and safety law have  to provide safe access and egress to all users of the stadium and to minimise the risk of injury  to all patrons. if someone gets killed or trampled inside the stadium it's the stadium director who will be in the high court answering the charges. If sports clubs around the world can keep their fans off the pictches without much fuss, why can't it be done here. Tradition is all good and well but when some 7 year old kid is trampled or seriously hurt, hand wringing and dickheads ringing Joe Duffy about tradition wont be much good then. Times move on and the GAA will have to move with them. The corporate sponsors and insurers will demand it.

[botman]

I have been reading the posts on here for a while now and as a Mayo man i dont think we will be running on to the pitch to see our county pick up Sam any time soon. of course there is the tradition of runnig on to the pitch at the end of the game, we used to have the tradition of having 10 pints and driving home from the pubs, but that has stopped. i dont buy into this tradition thing at all, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace, in Australia if anyone runs on to the pitch they are fined 5000 dollars and banned for ten years. There are no doubt commercial issues as to why the presentation is moving center pitch, but as someone who deals with insurance claims and insurance companies on an almost daily basis, let no one be under any illusion about the amount of claims that will be lodged follwoing sundays incident, especially now there is a recession on. Say for instance some lads claims he slipped on the wet pitch on Sunday, hurt the back and is out of work for a couple of weeks, it doesn't take long for the amounts to add up. The GAA have under health and safety law have  to provide safe access and egress to all users of the stadium and to minimise the risk of injury  to all patrons. if someone gets killed or trampled inside the stadium it's the stadium director who will be in the high court answering the charges. If sports clubs around the world can keep their fans off the pictches without much fuss, why can't it be done here. Tradition is all good and well but when some 7 year old kid is trampled or seriously hurt, hand wringing and d**kheads ringing Joe Duffy about tradition wont be much good then. Times move on and the GAA will have to move with them. The corporate sponsors and insurers will demand it.

Well said.

[Maroon Heaven]

I don't think anyone wants to go back to a tradition of driving home after 10 pints. Can the gaa not put a disclaimer on the back of the ticket which puts the onus on the person running onto the pitch?

Also why not control it better for the fans who want access onto the pitch after a game. Surely opening the gates at ground level and allowing a controlled flow of people onto a pitch is better then packing 60 stewards on the Hill 16 end fighting then back and allowing a crush take place.

[An Gaeilgoir]

I don't think anyone wants to go back to a tradition of driving home after 10 pints. Can the gaa not put a disclaimer on the back of the ticket which puts the onus on the person running onto the pitch?

Also why not control it better for the fans who want access onto the pitch after a game. Surely opening the gates at ground level and allowing a controlled flow of people onto a pitch is better then packing 60 stewards on the Hill 16 end fighting then back and allowing a crush take place.

From a litigation point of view, putting a disclaimer on the ticket would not be enough, "best practice" from stadiums around the world would be introduced by the plantiff's team and some old judge would say "they can keep them off the pitch in Wembley why not in Croke park" case over. The GAA have to do all that is "reasonably practible" to keep people off the pitch and out of harms way. The 2005 health and safety act states this. As for letting persons on to a pitch in a "controlled manner" would required designated walkways, stewarding, emergency access to the front of the presentation are and so on. No insurance company in the world would entertain it. We are doing some work at the moment for the ploughing championships in kildare next month. Letting people in to a field is a disaster, even in a controlled manner.

[INDIANA]

I have been reading the posts on here for a while now and as a Mayo man i dont think we will be running on to the pitch to see our county pick up Sam any time soon. of course there is the tradition of runnig on to the pitch at the end of the game, we used to have the tradition of having 10 pints and driving home from the pubs, but that has stopped. i dont buy into this tradition thing at all, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace, in Australia if anyone runs on to the pitch they are fined 5000 dollars and banned for ten years. There are no doubt commercial issues as to why the presentation is moving center pitch, but as someone who deals with insurance claims and insurance companies on an almost daily basis, let no one be under any illusion about the amount of claims that will be lodged follwoing sundays incident, especially now there is a recession on. Say for instance some lads claims he slipped on the wet pitch on Sunday, hurt the back and is out of work for a couple of weeks, it doesn't take long for the amounts to add up. The GAA have under health and safety law have  to provide safe access and egress to all users of the stadium and to minimise the risk of injury  to all patrons. if someone gets killed or trampled inside the stadium it's the stadium director who will be in the high court answering the charges. If sports clubs around the world can keep their fans off the pictches without much fuss, why can't it be done here. Tradition is all good and well but when some 7 year old kid is trampled or seriously hurt, hand wringing and d**kheads ringing Joe Duffy about tradition wont be much good then. Times move on and the GAA will have to move with them. The corporate sponsors and insurers will demand it.

On a personal level I couldn't give a rats ass what they do in Austrailia , rugby or soccer. We do nothing for ourselves in this country anymore. Its all about conforming to everybody else's standards.
Ours is an amateur game with a unique connection between the public and the players. No other sport in the world has this. But try telling the likes of Peter Mc Kenna what its like to have a player from a small club parish playing in an all-ireland final and he'd probably look at you with 2 heads.

It seems to me everybody can get onto Croke Park these days, except the people the place was built for. Teams can't even get a training session on it, but Bono can rip the pitch the bits if he bloody well likes.

The reason people run onto the pitch is because of that connection. The day that connection goes- is the day we're just like all the rest.

I'm probably in the minority on this as usual but I'm fed in this country about having to copy everyone bloody else. there was a time in Ireland when we used to do things for ourselves. Obviosuly with the suits running Croke Park these days , another fine tradition goes by the wayside.

I'm happy to take my chances the next time Dublin win an-all-reland. probably never the way we're going

[Jinxy]

I have been reading the posts on here for a while now and as a Mayo man i dont think we will be running on to the pitch to see our county pick up Sam any time soon. of course there is the tradition of runnig on to the pitch at the end of the game, we used to have the tradition of having 10 pints and driving home from the pubs, but that has stopped. i dont buy into this tradition thing at all, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace, in Australia if anyone runs on to the pitch they are fined 5000 dollars and banned for ten years. There are no doubt commercial issues as to why the presentation is moving center pitch, but as someone who deals with insurance claims and insurance companies on an almost daily basis, let no one be under any illusion about the amount of claims that will be lodged follwoing sundays incident, especially now there is a recession on. Say for instance some lads claims he slipped on the wet pitch on Sunday, hurt the back and is out of work for a couple of weeks, it doesn't take long for the amounts to add up. The GAA have under health and safety law have  to provide safe access and egress to all users of the stadium and to minimise the risk of injury  to all patrons. if someone gets killed or trampled inside the stadium it's the stadium director who will be in the high court answering the charges. If sports clubs around the world can keep their fans off the pictches without much fuss, why can't it be done here. Tradition is all good and well but when some 7 year old kid is trampled or seriously hurt, hand wringing and d**kheads ringing Joe Duffy about tradition wont be much good then. Times move on and the GAA will have to move with them. The corporate sponsors and insurers will demand it.

On a personal level I couldn't give a rats ass what they do in Austrailia , rugby or soccer. We do nothing for ourselves in this country anymore. Its all about conforming to everybody else's standards.
Ours is an amateur game with a unique connection between the public and the players. No other sport in the world has this. But try telling the likes of Peter Mc Kenna what its like to have a player from a small club parish playing in an all-ireland final and he'd probably look at you with 2 heads.

It seems to me everybody can get onto Croke Park these days, except the people the place was built for. Teams can't even get a training session on it, but Bono can rip the pitch the bits if he bloody well likes.

The reason people run onto the pitch is because of that connection. The day that connection goes- is the day we're just like all the rest.

I'm probably in the minority on this as usual but I'm fed in this country about having to copy everyone bloody else. there was a time in Ireland when we used to do things for ourselves. Obviosuly with the suits running Croke Park these days , another fine tradition goes by the wayside.

I'm happy to take my chances the next time Dublin win an-all-reland. probably never the way we're going

I don't think you are.
I agree with you 100% anyway.
I remember the Australians were pretty nervous after the IR game in Pearse Stadium when the kids came on the pitch!
Why we would want to copy them?
Time to draw a line in the sand.

[Donnellys Hollow]

From a litigation point of view, putting a disclaimer on the ticket would not be enough, "best practice" from stadiums around the world would be introduced by the plantiff's team and some old judge would say "they can keep them off the pitch in Wembley why not in Croke park" case over. The GAA have to do all that is "reasonably practible" to keep people off the pitch and out of harms way. The 2005 health and safety act states this. As for letting persons on to a pitch in a "controlled manner" would required designated walkways, stewarding, emergency access to the front of the presentation are and so on. No insurance company in the world would entertain it. We are doing some work at the moment for the ploughing championships in kildare next month. Letting people in to a field is a disaster, even in a controlled manner.

How come other stadia around the country seem to allow people onto the field without much resistance after a match. I was on the field with the Kildare supporters in both Tullamore and Limerick over the past two years and not a word was said. Granted, the crowds were only a small fraction of a full capacity Croke Park but are these grounds not in breach of the 2005 act all the same?

O'Connor Park in Tullamore has a great custom of allowing all the children in attendance onto the field at HT during a match for a kick/puck around. I think Parnell Park allows this as well. I wonder is this in breach of GAA policy?

[blewuporstuffed]

I have been reading the posts on here for a while now and as a Mayo man i dont think we will be running on to the pitch to see our county pick up Sam any time soon. of course there is the tradition of runnig on to the pitch at the end of the game, we used to have the tradition of having 10 pints and driving home from the pubs, but that has stopped. i dont buy into this tradition thing at all, what happened on Sunday was a disgrace, in Australia if anyone runs on to the pitch they are fined 5000 dollars and banned for ten years. There are no doubt commercial issues as to why the presentation is moving center pitch, but as someone who deals with insurance claims and insurance companies on an almost daily basis, let no one be under any illusion about the amount of claims that will be lodged follwoing sundays incident, especially now there is a recession on. Say for instance some lads claims he slipped on the wet pitch on Sunday, hurt the back and is out of work for a couple of weeks, it doesn't take long for the amounts to add up. The GAA have under health and safety law have  to provide safe access and egress to all users of the stadium and to minimise the risk of injury  to all patrons. if someone gets killed or trampled inside the stadium it's the stadium director who will be in the high court answering the charges. If sports clubs around the world can keep their fans off the pictches without much fuss, why can't it be done here. Tradition is all good and well but when some 7 year old kid is trampled or seriously hurt, hand wringing and d**kheads ringing Joe Duffy about tradition wont be much good then. Times move on and the GAA will have to move with them. The corporate sponsors and insurers will demand it.

On a personal level I couldn't give a rats ass what they do in Austrailia , rugby or soccer. We do nothing for ourselves in this country anymore. Its all about conforming to everybody else's standards.
Ours is an amateur game with a unique connection between the public and the players. No other sport in the world has this. But try telling the likes of Peter Mc Kenna what its like to have a player from a small club parish playing in an all-ireland final and he'd probably look at you with 2 heads.

It seems to me everybody can get onto Croke Park these days, except the people the place was built for. Teams can't even get a training session on it, but Bono can rip the pitch the bits if he bloody well likes.

The reason people run onto the pitch is because of that connection. The day that connection goes- is the day we're just like all the rest.

I'm probably in the minority on this as usual but I'm fed in this country about having to copy everyone bloody else. there was a time in Ireland when we used to do things for ourselves. Obviosuly with the suits running Croke Park these days , another fine tradition goes by the wayside.

I'm happy to take my chances the next time Dublin win an-all-reland. probably never the way we're going

I don't think you are.
I agree with you 100% anyway.
I remember the Australians were pretty nervous after the IR game in Pearse Stadium when the kids came on the pitch!
Why we would want to copy them?
Time to draw a line in the sand.

dont think your in the minority at all, i would agree with all of that aswell

[ballinaman]

The bottom line is....Croke park want the presentation in the middle of the pitch so they can have big dirty sponsor logos in the backround while Sam and Liam are being lifted. MONEY MONEY MONEY! Christy Cooney saying that last sunday was " Sad"....cheek of the man