Peter McKenna

[Jinxy]

I honestly think that his comments about KK fans dumping their rubbish on the pitch were extremely ill-advised.
His statement that fencing is now inevitable also shows poor judgement on his part.
He is creating a very adversarial atmosphere in the run up to the biggest sporting event of the year.
Him and Cooney would want to get it into their heads sooner rather than later that the fans WILL go on the pitch after the football final.
I'd wager people that normally wouldn't invade the pitch will now go out of their way to do so just to let the powers that be in Croke Park know who's boss.
I had good time for him up until this debacle.
Had a listen to Liveline there earlier and 3/4 of the people that phoned in were in favour of keeping things the way they were.

[Bogball XV]

I honestly think that his comments about KK fans dumping their rubbish on the pitch were extremely ill-advised.
His statement that fencing is now inevitable also shows poor judgement on his part.
He is creating a very adversarial atmosphere in the run up to the biggest sporting event of the year.
Him and Cooney would want to get it into their heads sooner rather than later that the fans WILL go on the pitch after the football final.
I'd wager people that normally wouldn't invade the pitch will now go out of their way to do so just to let the powers that be in Croke Park know who's boss.
I had good time for him up until this debacle.
Had a listen to Liveline there earlier and 3/4 of the people that phoned in were in favour of keeping things the way they were.

i'm not a fan at all, imo he's been one of the driving forces behind the profit maximisation agenda pursued by some within the upper echelons of the gaa.  I understand the need for croke park to generate revenue, but imo he and the rest of the stadium management do so with little regard for the rest of the organisation.  They seem think that croke park is their property and that the rest of us should be grateful when we're allowed in.  I wonder how his compensation package is structured?

[heffo]

I honestly think that his comments about KK fans dumping their rubbish on the pitch were extremely ill-advised.
His statement that fencing is now inevitable also shows poor judgement on his part.
He is creating a very adversarial atmosphere in the run up to the biggest sporting event of the year.
Him and Cooney would want to get it into their heads sooner rather than later that the fans WILL go on the pitch after the football final.
I'd wager people that normally wouldn't invade the pitch will now go out of their way to do so just to let the powers that be in Croke Park know who's boss.
I had good time for him up until this debacle.
Had a listen to Liveline there earlier and 3/4 of the people that phoned in were in favour of keeping things the way they were.

i'm not a fan at all, imo he's been one of the driving forces behind the profit maximisation agenda pursued by some within the upper echelons of the gaa.  I understand the need for croke park to generate revenue, but imo he and the rest of the stadium management do so with little regard for the rest of the organisation.  They seem think that croke park is their property and that the rest of us should be grateful when we're allowed in. 

See announcements directed at 'patrons' of Croke park - I'm not a feckin customer, I'm one of the landlords!

[Jinxy]

Where's he from anyway?

[Billys Boots]

Hang on lads, he's employed by the GAA specifically for the "profit maximisation agenda" that finances your favourite sport in every parish in Ireland.  He has a job; he's doing it.  And he's from Longford. 

[bottlethrower7]

this is the man who single handedly made such a balls of the logistics operation for manys an all-Ireland club final that people's lives were 'allegedly' put in danger.

the man who came up with a master-stroke to alleviate the mile-long queue at the ticket sales point at the launderette on Dorset St by selling tickets out of the boot of a car.

the man who figured it'd be grand sure to dig up the croke park pitch a week before the Leinster football final.

the man whose choice of playing surface in 2004 cost a certain Laois footballer his ability to walk for several months. That same year turning the croke park sod into an ice rink.

He is clearly incompetent. How hes let be where he is for so long is mind-boggling.

And, if the pitch is really that bad (and apparently it really is THAT bad - the Indo reports a deodorant can and a pair of spectacle - gasp, yes spectacles - found on the sod) - then why doesn't he tear up the sod again and lay a nice shiny new surface. Sure its wednesday. Its not needed again til sunday. Loads of time.

Cop on McKenna.
Cop on Cooney. A very bad start to your presidency.

[Jinxy]

Cooney seems more of a bureaucrat than a politician which actually worries me in a way.
I think Brennan or even Kelly (god help us) would have figured out which way the wind was blowing and consigned this idea to the bin.
This talk of fencing is really making me mad.
It is a completely petulant reaction on McKennas part.

[Bud Wiser]

My opinion for what it is worth. Firstly I am a Cat's supporter and secondly I am a McKenna supporter.

Cat's on the pitch?  In the last few years, like every other county including my own there are small cells of troublemakers infiltrating the GAA. Kilkenny have them too, the soccer chants and finger pointing and taunting. A small group of these Kilkenny supporters were on Hill 16 at last years A.I.F. annoying Waterford supporters. The security in place, or to be more precise, that was put in place by Peter McKenna dealt with this situation when it was about to get ugly because of less than 0.5% of the total amount of Kilkenny supporters.   These are the type that hit the stewards boxes in the face on Sunday and there is no need for that type of animal in our association. If the stewards had hit back and laid out one of these we could have had a riot.

Peter McKenna?  When Brian Cody was asked did he think Tommy Walsh hurled close to the edge Cody said, 'the day he doesn't hurl close to the edge is the day I will be worried'.  I have found Peter McKenna, Linda & Niamh McCoy and every single staff member of Croker to be top notch and the day I will worry about Croke Park is when they are not there. I am not in favour of the change in the presentation format by the way but there is a difference between being a bully and being a man of principle which I know McKenna to be. He has made decisions in Croke Park that has already saved lives not least on a few occasions with defribilators on at least three occasions up to three years ago.  If Peter McKenna has come to a decision that is unpopular with us he has not come to it just for something to do, he is doing it for a reason and while I would prefer the old format I would respect his decision because like the ones he made to get the Croke Park residents on board there is some reason for him making it that we are not all clear on.

[orangeman]

In defence of Mc Kenna, he cannot be held repsonsible on his own for everythnig that goes wrong in Croke Park.

Decisions are not taken solely by him - there's more than him making these decisions.


On Sunday past, the vast, vast majority of supporters / patrons or whatever you want to call them were quite happy to stay put. All the people in the seated areas were quite content to sit down and wait for the presentation. Lads who might have had a few too many and were full of bravado when confronted by the bouncers, decided that they were getting on the pitch regardless of who it was that was trying to stop them.


The issue of stopping people getting onto the pitch has been IMO brought about not only by insurance reasons, but mostly because of the need to protect the grass from being damaged as a result of an earlier decision to relay the pitch at the absolute height of the GAA season.


Would they have relaid the pitch in the rugby / soccer season ? Not a chance - that would have been too embarassing - but it's alright for us gobshites.


Mc Kenna has a job to do - he's doing a very good job. But like us all, we're human and make mistakes - so is Mr. Mc Kenna - he's the boss and the boss usually makes decisions that those below him might find unpopular but if we were in his place, we might just make the same decisons and the same mistakes.

[tyroneStatto]

i just cant have the man at all.

[Bud Wiser]

why?

The soccer boys who now can't fund the big soccer pitch/rugby pitch in D4 would certainly like to have him.

[ballinaman]

You could see in Cooneys face when he was presenting Liam that he was sickened to the core that fans were on the pitch. Then he came out and said that last sunday was "sad". Some cheek, 4 in a row and a savage game of hurling, anything but sad...the only thing sad would have been the little pathetic flag waving cermony on the pitch if it had gone ahead..

McKenna is a business man who just wants to make money, thats his job and i don't think we should be that surprised that he doesn't have a clue about the GAA and it's values.

[orangeman]

Where was the heath and safety concerns when there were children holding county flags at the Hill and Canal ends especially and Tipp and KK were warming up and sliothars were flying in all directions at speed ?. I was watching Cody and he was looking at them as if to say, what the f--k are they doing here.


Eventually somebosy copped on that they were going to get hit and removed them.

[Jinxy]

My opinion for what it is worth. Firstly I am a Cat's supporter and secondly I am a McKenna supporter.

Cat's on the pitch?  In the last few years, like every other county including my own there are small cells of troublemakers infiltrating the GAA. Kilkenny have them too, the soccer chants and finger pointing and taunting. A small group of these Kilkenny supporters were on Hill 16 at last years A.I.F. annoying Waterford supporters. The security in place, or to be more precise, that was put in place by Peter McKenna dealt with this situation when it was about to get ugly because of less than 0.5% of the total amount of Kilkenny supporters.   These are the type that hit the stewards boxes in the face on Sunday and there is no need for that type of animal in our association. If the stewards had hit back and laid out one of these we could have had a riot.

Peter McKenna?  When Brian Cody was asked did he think Tommy Walsh hurled close to the edge Cody said, 'the day he doesn't hurl close to the edge is the day I will be worried'.  I have found Peter McKenna, Linda & Niamh McCoy and every single staff member of Croker to be top notch and the day I will worry about Croke Park is when they are not there. I am not in favour of the change in the presentation format by the way but there is a difference between being a bully and being a man of principle which I know McKenna to be. He has made decisions in Croke Park that has already saved lives not least on a few occasions with defribilators on at least three occasions up to three years ago.  If Peter McKenna has come to a decision that is unpopular with us he has not come to it just for something to do, he is doing it for a reason and while I would prefer the old format I would respect his decision because like the ones he made to get the Croke Park residents on board there is some reason for him making it that we are not all clear on.

What do you think of his comments with regard to kilkenny supporters dumping their rubbish on the pitch Bud?
What do you think of his statement that the return of fencing is inevitable?

[Bud Wiser]

McKenna is a business man who just wants to make money, thats his job and i don't think we should be that surprised that he doesn't have a clue about the GAA and it's values.

Couldn't agree more, that is exactly what Peter McKenna is, a business man.  If the government could harness one like him we would not be in the shit we are in today and a National Stadium at Abbotstown would be a reality instead of a fairytale of Bertie Ahearns creation.  Lansdowne Rd which seats 30,000 less when it is eventually completed can't sell the seats they have while as of today there are over three thousand on a six year waiting list for seats in the Premium level of Croke Park.

For an operation the size of Croke Park and how it is run we have little to cry about.  As for the presentation which is what this thread is about, maybe it could have been explained a bit better and a bit of thought put into the actual podium.  For example, the value of advertising on this podium pro-rata to a sideline banner or an add in Grand Prix terms should be estimated.  If the main sponsor insists that Etihad for example must me there then an amount similar to the value of the add could be allocated to some worthy cause that would bring the supporters on side.  A worthy cause could range from a local charity or be added to the Goal Fund in Nolan Park tonight when the Cats play Ballyhale for charity.  That would keep people off the pitch because there is interaction between the supporters and the ones making the decision.  I will be taking up my new position in Croke Park soon and I intend to change all this.