County board happy with cusack park ticket pricing and policy

There is “not an awful lot” of objection to GAA ticket prices and admission policies in Westmeath, and they should remain unchanged, Westmeath county board chairman Sean Sheridan has stated.
 
At last night’s Westmeath county board meeting in Cusack Park, an article which appears in this week’s Westmeath Examiner concerning Cusack Park’s ticketing practices was raised by delegates.
 
The story came about after this newspaper received numerous phone calls and Facebook comments in the wake of the recent Shay Murtagh Precast SFC semi-finals.
 
However, when the matter was put to Mr Sheridan and county secretary James Savage, they insisted that there had been few or no complaints about the policy.
 
“We think it’s working well,” the chairman told Rochfortbridge delegate Tommy Colgan, who felt that it was clear that “an awful lot of people are not happy with the cost”.
 
However, the top table insisted that as far as the recent semi-finals were concerned, the policy of €15 per adult, €10 for students, €3 for U16s and free admission for U12s represented “good value for money”.
 
“We let youngsters [U12s] in free as well. The gate people are fantastic for using common sense,” said Mr Sheridan.
 
But Bunbrosna’s Jim Finnan questioned if a bill of €50 for two adults and two college students was value for money, and if €10 a head was a steep tariff for two college-bound young people within the same family.
 
He said that he recalled attending a match in Galway recently, and while two adults were charged into the game, two teenagers were admitted free of charge.
 
“What about people who are interested in the first game and not interested in the second one?” Milltownpass delegate Richie Gorman queried.
 
“You talk about common sense on the gate. I’ve met a few people on the gate who never use common sense, trying to charge me to get two 10-year-olds in.
 
“I’ve seen 12-year-olds bigger than me being stopped and asked for full price. Now unless we bring birth certs and driving licences we’re wasting our time.”
 
In response, Mr Sheridan said that he was actively looking for people to man the gates at Cusack Park and other venues.
 
“I’m doing enough with my club,” Mr Gorman responded. “There’s another thing that’s not remembered – dozens of people giving their time to underage all over the county, and when they go to a gate, they should be recognised for that.”
 
Meanwhile, there was confusion about the availability of Cusack Park’s €25 family ticket, which Mr Sheridan clarified was not available to patrons for the recent SFC semi-finals.
 
“They are available up to the semi-final point,” he said.
 
One delegate asked why one of his fellow club members called the office in Cusack Park and failed to ascertain how to get hold of a family ticket.
 
Mr Sheridan said that details about the ticket were available from him or Mr Savage.
 
“Well it’s a pity you wouldn’t make the office aware if they’re for sale or not for sale,” said the delegate.