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Poll: Slight majority favour behind-closed-doors option to no matches at all

Published

6 years ago

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A poll carried out by the Killarney Advertiser this week has found that 55% of our readers would rather see the GAA staging senior intercounty matches behind closed doors than cancelling the 2020 championships entirely.

With mass gatherings of over 5,000 people prohibited until September at the earliest as the Irish government attempts to limit the spread of the coronavirus, supporters will not be permitted to attend any major football or hurling matches this summer – if any matches go ahead at all.

The GAA are currently weighing up their options with regards to this year’s championships, which were originally scheduled to begin in the coming weeks before tentatively being pushed back to July. It is believed that playing senior intercounty fixtures in empty stadia is on the table and reaction to that particular prospect has been mixed.

Some eminent GAA personalities, like Kerry and Dr Crokes legend Colm Cooper, have questioned the value of having matches without fans, while others, like Kerry manager Peter Keane, have argued that it would be better than nothing at all.

The results of the Killarney Advertiser survey have confirmed that the local GAA community is also largely divided on this thorny issue, with a small majority leaning towards matches behind closed doors.

CLUB v COUNTY

Interestingly, over three-quarters of our readers believe that if GAA activity is allowed to resume in the near future, the club game should be prioritised over county. A whopping 76% of those polled feel as though club should come first and that smaller, local competitions should take precedence over the provincial and national championships.

For his part, GAA President John Horan has reiterated that club will be the first to get up and running once it is safe to do so as he dismissed “irresponsible” reports that intercounty panels would be permitted to start training again in the coming weeks.

"We're an amateur sport,” he told RTÉ this week. “I know there's a lot of speculation that professional sports like rugby and soccer may come back here in Ireland and overseas, but that's probably in the sense that they've cocooned their players.

"Our amateur athletes, they go back to their families, they go back to their workplace. We can't put any of those people, or those people they come in contact with, at risk just for the sake of playing games. We won't be making any rushed decision on this.

"If and when we do return, the club scene will be our priority because 98% of our activity happens at club level.

"As we're looking at it at the moment, our return initially will be back to club activity before we engage in the intercounty playing."

Horan also revealed that competitions at club and intercounty level could now run into 2021, and that the GAA would be content to see that happen.

"We're open to that if that's a possibility," he said. "We'd just adjust the 2021 season. I think there's a hunger and an appetite out there among both players and spectators to see the games being played.”

OPTIMISM

The outlook in the coming months remains uncertain but despite the doom and gloom, many people are still optimistic that our national sports will return at some stage in 2020.

When asked in our survey, which was carried out online via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, 57% of our readers said they think that GAA matches will be played at some stage this year, with the remaining 43% fearing that we may have already seen our last bit of GAA action until 2021.

With club activity officially scheduled to resume on May 5, an official announcement from the GAA is expected in the coming days.

 

Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.

 

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Home cup tie for St Paul’s could be epic

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2 weeks ago

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7 November 2025

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Paudie O’Connor National Cup (Round 1)

Utility Trust St Paul’s v GCU Brunell

Saturday 7.30pm

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre

The St Paul’s women’s team will be hoping to get their National Cup adventure off the ground on Saturday when they welcome 2024 champions Brunell to Killarney. Tip-off in the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Paul’s have displayed some fine early season form, although their unbeaten start in the Super League came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost to the Trinity Meteors in Dublin. James Fleming’s side weren’t at their best on the day but they were well in contention heading into the final quarter with the scores at 47-45 in favour of the hosts. The Meteors pushed on in the fourth, however, eventually running out 63-53 winners.

St Paul’s scorers on the night were Maisie Burnham (13), Tara Cousins (12), Lorraine Scanlon (12), Lovisa Hevinder (9), Denise Dunlea (5) and Leah McMahon (2).

The Killarney club are now joint second in the table alongside the Meteors with both teams holding a 4-1 record. Killester are top having won each of their first five games.

Paul’s opponents on Saturday, Brunell, have won three out of five league matches so far.

LAKERS

The Utility Trust St Paul’s Lakers have now won three of their last four games in Division 1 of the Men’s National League following an impressive home victory over Moycullen in Killarney.

Eoin Carroll and Jack O’Sullivan made significant contributions of the Boys in Black; Carroll hit 17 points and collected 13 rebounds while O’Sullivan had 14 points, 12 rebounds and some spectacular blocks.

Steve Kelly posted 30 points and the durable Sam Grant played every second, adding 21 points along the way.

The Lakers started well before the visitors found their footing and the sides went in level at the half-time break after scores by home captain Carroll. There was still nothing to separate the teams entering the fourth quarter (68-65) but buckets by Carroll, Pablo Murcia and Grant opened up a nine-point lead. Moycullen fought back admirably, however, cutting the deficit to just four, but Luke O’Hea’s charges held firm to prevail by eight (88-80).

Next up is a cup tie against the Tipperary Talons, a side they defeated by 30 points just a couple of weeks ago. The cup can be very different to the league, though, and they will need another solid performance to advance to the next round. Tip-off in in Killenaule is at 6.30pm on Saturday.

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Chances of Kerry v Cork Munster final in 2026 decrease as Munster GAA delay seeding plan

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2 weeks ago

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7 November 2025

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After facing a backlash from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary players, Munster GAA have postponed their plan to keep Cork and Kerry separate in the 2026 Munster Football Championship.

The new seeding system – which gives the two highest ranked Munster teams in the National League byes to separate semi-finals – will now come into play in 2027, twelve months later than initially planned.

This will give Clare and Limerick a chance to earn promotion to Division 2 of the league, potentially overtaking Cork if the Rebels were to get relegated to Division 3.

Despite traditionally being the two main contenders for Munster football honours, Kerry and Cork haven’t met in a provincial decider since 2021. The Kingdom have won each of the finals since then (one versus Limerick and three versus Clare) by an average margin of 15.75 points.

More high-profile Kerry v Cork finals might be desirable for fans of those teams, businesses in Killarney and Cork, and neutrals alike but Munster GAA’s plans to effectively keep the great rivals on opposite sides of the draw understandably drew criticism from the other participating counties. A statement by the GPA confirmed that players from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipp had met via Zoom to discuss the matter. They were said to be “deeply disappointed and concerned” by the decision.

The 12-month delay will at least give two of those disaffected teams an opportunity to benefit from the new seeding process.

The draw for the 2026 Munster Football Championship will take place on November 27 under the old rules. As 2025 finalists, Kerry and Clare will get byes to the last four (but they will not necessarily be kept apart).

Nine members of Kerry’s squad are up for All-Stars at tonight’s awards ceremony in Dublin with Joe O’Connor and David Clifford also in contention for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.

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