Great Grants, Quarter of a million reasons for Tipp delight.
By Noel Dundon , Tipperary Media
The GAA’s decision to charge U16’s to attend the upcoming league games is not surprising but it has attracted sharp criticism from some quarters.
The charge will be to attend higher-division Allianz League games – children’s tickets for Division 1 and Division 2 in football and Division 1A and 1B in hurling will be €5 and can only be purchased alongside an adult ticket.
The GAA said that “this new arrangement has been introduced after consultation with our counties and to assist with event control and health and safety protocols for fixtures that attract bigger attendance.” It added that it reserves the right to extend the charge to other fixtures if there were concerns over stadium capacity.
Juveniles, of course, have long been charged €5 for championship games, with higher prices for All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. The prices of adult league tickets are unchanged at €20 (€15 for seniors/students) for Divisions 1/2/1A/1B, and €12 (€10) for Divisions 3/4/2/3.
Match bundles of seven tickets for €100/€70 or four for €65/40 (depending on the division) are available in football and six/three for €90/€50 in hurling, while there is also an early-bird discount of €5 on opening-round tickets purchased in December.
You would have to wonder why it is that there is no charge applying to league games in the lower tiers – surely this is making fish of one and flesh of another. Presumably, the idea is to encourage as many as possible to attend the games in the lower tiers – for instance the Tipperary footballers games in division 4 of the league. But, could the Association have afforded to leave the charging structure as it was? Surely, encouraging juveniles to attend the games is the best way to keep them on-board; following the games; and creating the kind of atmosphere we all crave at games?
A lovely tribute to late Tipperary lady Nuala Nealon.
One of the main meeting rooms at Áras Mumhan in Limerick was recently renamed in honour of the late Nuala Nealon who sadly passed away unexpectedly on August 30th.
A native of Newtown outside of Nenagh in County Tipperary, Nuala worked for Munster GAA as an administrator for 32 years, following in the footsteps of her father Donie who served as Secretary of Munster Council from 1977 to 2004 and her grandfather Rody who served as one of the Tipperary delegates to Munster Council – Donie of course is one of Tipperary’s living hurling legends having won multiple All-Ireland honours as a player and mentor.
Following Nuala’s untimely passing, Munster Council voted unanimously to remember Nuala’s significant contribution to the GAA by renaming the heretofore Munster Room to become “Seomra Nuala Ní Nialláin”. What a lovely touch by the Munster Council.
Quarter of a million reasons for Tipp delight.
Tipperary clubs received more than a quarter of a million Euro in development grants from the Munster Council this year -€235,013 to be precise. This is the third highest allocation in the province with Cork receiving the largest share of the €1.362 million pot with an allocation of €404k. Waterford received the smallest allocation at €67,400.
Nineteen Tipperary clubs shared the pot ranging from €30,000 awarded to Kilruane MacDonagh, down to €856 awarded to Rockwell Rovers for a field sanding project. The monies are very important to the clubs and provide a real lifeline when they are trying to improve their facilities on and off the pitch.
You would have to agree with Munster Council Chairman Ger Ryan when he pointed out that the grants supported 96 development projects throughout Munster – an impressive range of capital development projects, with clubs investing over €10 million in upgrading their facilities. He added that this level of expenditure is testament to the strength of the GAA in the Province and reflects the impressive vision of the clubs to continually improve facilities for players and supporters alike. Well done to the clubs and to Munster Council for their fine work – the GAA naysayers should take note of where some of the accrued funds actually end up – right back in the grassroots.