No mass exodus from Mayo for All-Ireland semi-finals on Saturday

THERE will be no mass exodus from the county on Saturday for the All-Ireland senior football championship semi-finals between Mayo and Dublin in Croke Park.

Just 24,000 tickets were made available as two of the country's best supported counties go head-to-head in a double-header, with both the men's and ladies' semi-finals taking place in GAA headquarters, the former at 6 p.m. and the latter at 3.45 p.m.

However, when corporate allocations are accounted for, the true total for both counties was a little over 18,000 - meaning just over 9,000 each.

The Croke Park capacity is 82,300 but following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, the stadium had not hosted any supporters until they were permitted to attend games in the past few weeks with the relaxation of restrictions.

The Mayo allocation for the semi-finals was distributed by the GAA County Board to clubs on Saturday, with club members given two days to pick up their tickets online thereafter.

Tickets not picked up within that timeframe return to the board, from where they are sent back to Croke Park.

“There might be a surplus put online for general sale,” said Mayo GAA PRO John Walker, although he confirmed there was very strong interest among club members in the county.

The GAA has determined that tickets for games this summer are strictly non-transferable as this would impact on contact tracing measures that may need to be carried out by public health authorities.

Neither will it be possible to buy tickets on the day of games at ticket vans or ticket offices.

Supporters are also reminded not to attend games if they are feeling unwell or have been asked to self-isolate.

The GAA ticket office can arrange a refund, but requests must be made in advance as refunds will not be facilitated on the day or after the game.