Spectators warned not to enter pitch during historic MacHale Park rugby game

SPECTATORS attending Connacht and Munster’s historic rugby game in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park have been warned not to enter the playing area. 

Gerry Burke, Mayo GAA’s chief steward at MacHale Park, said that spectators will ‘under no circumstances’ be allowed to enter the pitch before, during or after the game. 

“It is not acceptable to enter the pitch on a rugby match day. It’s not acceptable to enter at a GAA match day either, from our point of view,” he told delegates at Mayo GAA’s monthly county board meeting last night (Tuesday). 

A mesh curtain may also be placed around the perimeter of the pitch before the game to prevent spectators from entering the playing area. The curtain will be left in place if erected. 

A sell-out crowd of 25,000 people will descend on Castlebar this Saturday as the home of Mayo GAA hosts its first ever rugby game. 

Over 120 stewards from Mayo GAA and other counties, assisted by An Garda Síochána, will be on duty on the day.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and President Michael D Higgins have been invited to attend the game. 

Castlebar District Court have also granted a special license to allow for the sale of alcohol at the venue. A large television screen and advertising boards will be erected before the game. 

All those stewarding at MacHale Park on Saturday were required to submit their names, photographs, next of kin, and other personal information to Connacht Rugby. 

Kilmaine GAA’s county board delegate Kevin McDonnell, who stewards in MacHale Park, said the GAA should adopt a similar protocol for capturing stewards’ personal information. 

“If anything happened any of us up there, we’d be standing around wondering who do you actually contact,” said McDonnell. 

The meeting heard that Mayo has the highest number of trained match day stewards of any county in Ireland. 

Stewards who serve in MacHale Park at intercounty games all receive a meal after the game.

“That’s unique,” said Burke. “Other counties do not do that. They hand them a sandwich and a bottle of water, and off you go and do your job and go home. We are well and truly looked after.”

Mayo GAA Chairman Séamus Tuohy thanked Burke and all the Mayo GAA officials and volunteers involved in preparing for the game. 

“We’re very lucky as a board that we have people like this that comes in here and does a job and you don’t have to be running after them,” said Tuohy, who said the game allowed Mayo GAA to ‘show off’ their facilities. 

Mayo GAA Secretary, Ronan Kirrane, complimented the groundskeepers on the ‘splendid’ state of the pitch and said the game would be ‘a wonderful occasion for Mayo GAA’. 

Tuohy said the event was being led by Connacht Rugby officials and that no tickets were available for the game, which sold out within days of the tickets going on sale.

“There is no point in ringing Valerie [Murphy, Mayo GAA Treasurer], Ronan [Kirrane] or myself about trying to get into the stadium. It’s an all-ticket affair at this stage, so if you haven’t a ticket at this stage, you won’t get a ticket,” added Tuohy.

Earlier this week, the Connacht rugby team received a talk from Mayo senior football team manager, Kevin McStay, about what playing at MacHale Park means to the people of Mayo.

Mayo native Dave Heffernan, one of Connacht’s most experienced players, is set to start for the province in Saturday’s much-anticipated URC clash with Munster. 

READ: “I thought the door had closed for me” - Dave Heffernan speaks about his journey with Connacht Rugby