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 9 September 2004 By Sean O'Riordan Irish Examiner | |||
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WITH six players on the Cork panel, you'd think the people of Newtownshandrum would have no problem getting their hands on tickets for Sunday's hurling showdown.
But with almost all of the 800 locals hoping to make the trip, they're incredibly scarce.
National school principal Michael Harrington hasn't got one and thinks it unlikely at this stage, bar a miracle. You'd think one of his teaching colleagues would have a better chance as she's a member of the Cork Ladies Football team.
But Sinead O'Reilly's still waiting. "If I can't get a ticket I'll watch it somewhere. The ladies teams players didn't get any. A friend of mine in New York has two for herself and she's hoping to get one for me, but it's doubtful at this stage," the 23-year-old said.
On the other hand 12-year-old pupil Louise Morrissey is beaming with delight, because she has one of the precious hurling final tickets. She's one of the lucky ones because her father, Patsy, is a team selector.
Classmate Gary Hooper isn't impressed by the way different clubs have been allocated tickets. "Buttevant got 40 tickets and they've no players on the team. We've six on the panel, that's nearly a quarter of all the players and we haven't got a proper allocation," he said.
His principal is concerned that the cost of tickets, at 60 a head, is very prohibitive for families, even if they can manage to lay their hands on them.
"I won't take the chance of travelling to Dublin without a ticket, because I could end up being marooned," Mr Harrington said.
He then informed his class, most of whom have been decked out in Cork jerseys throughout the week, that if they put in some hard graft over the next day or two, the weekend would be homework free.
That raised as many loud cheers, almost as if Newtownshandrum brothers, Ben and Jerry O'Connor, were already lifting the McCarthy cup.
The many not lucky enough to be at the big game will almost certainly head to the local GAA hall where RTÉ will be filming the occasion.
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