All-Ireland final tickets fetching ten times face value
Tickets for Sunday’s All Ireland Football Final between Kerry and Tyrone are being sold for almost 10 times their face value, it emerged today.
A pair of €60 stand tickets posted on the ebay auction site by a Co Tyrone person have so far attracted bids of €585 each.
Opposition spokesman on sport and former Kerry All-Ireland winner Jimmy Deenihan today condemned the practice as obscene.
Mr Deenihan aims to re-introduce his Prohibition of Ticket Touts Bill in the coming Dáil term to outlaw hawking before major public events.
“When you think of all the genuine GAA fans out there who are desperately looking for tickets, this money being sought is simply obscene.
“GAA people are out every weekend in all weathers training teams and they will end up with no access to big games.
“Something must be done to stop touts creating a black market out of every sporting occasion,” said Mr Deenihan, who won five All-Ireland titles between 1975-1981.
A photograph of the Lower Cusack Stand ticket appears on the www.ebay.ie site with the precise seat numbers obscured.
The ticket was posted on Monday and has already drawn 14 bids.
The seller also threatened to withdraw the tickets if he doesn’t get enough money.
“I have this item advertised elsewhere and reserve the right to withdraw it before the auction ends,” he says on the site.
Mr Deenihan originally tabled his Prohibition of Ticket Touts Bill 2005 earlier this year and is submitting it again with amendments.
Under the Bill, gardai will be able to confiscate tickets from suspected touts who could be fined up to €3,000 or sentenced to six months in jail.
“It may not stop internet sites, but it will take touts off street corners if it becomes law,” Mr Deenihan added.
GAA fans expect the price of tickets to increase further in the run-up to Sunday’s game in Croke Park.
