*Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
A TECHNICAL GLITCH allowed members of some GAA clubs in Clare to purchase more tickets than they were allocated for the All-Ireland senior hurling final and others were left with half the amount that they had been earmarked for.
As outlined at the July meeting of the Clare County Board, a total of 16,000 tickets have been allocated to Clare GAA with Cork GAA set to receive a similar amount for the 2024 All-Ireland SHC final.
After 1pm on Friday afternoon, a link went live for members of GAA clubs in Clare who were successful in getting an allocation of tickets. A failing in the system allowed some persons to obtain more tickets than they were allocated and others were left with half of what they were awarded.
In some instances, persons who were looking for four tickets could only get two and those attempting to get two tickets could only obtain one.
When the matter was flagged with club secretaries, the message was relayed to Clare GAA officials who took steps to disable the links and codes issued to club members. There were no such technical glitches for clubs in Cork attempting to source their tickets.
Head of Operations with Clare GAA, Deirdre Murphy in correspondence issued to club secretaries on Friday evening stated, “The issues with regard to links have been identified and are being addressed”.
New codes and links will be circulated to clubs “by late afternoon” on Saturday, Murphy advised. “It is critical that you use the new links as well as the new codes, the old links are now obsolete,” she stressed. The codes will go live at 1pm on Monday and will be retrieved by 11am on Wednesday.
Clubs will be furnished with a report “showing all codes used and number of tickets purchased. This will enable you to identify anyone who may have purchased more than their allocation,” the Head of Operations outlined.
Murphy confirmed that the allocation of 16,000 for Clare GAA has not been impacted. “The important thing is that our allocation remains the exact same, nobody should lose out on a ticket at the end of the process”.
She told club secretaries, “We realise that this has been a really difficult experience for everyone involved and that there is now a duplication of work for you all”.
Club secretaries in Clare clubs who are volunteers have been inundated since Friday afternoon with queries from supporters since the issues emerged. “It’s a mess,” one administrator told The Clare Echo with another adding, “it is a real head-ache” as they questioned why there were no such glitches with the Cork system. Club secretaries have questioned the Head of Operations on who will be responsible for trying to retrieve tickets where persons got more than they were due.
Officials in Croke Park were contacted by The Clare Echo on Friday afternoon for comment.
