THE PRESIDENT of the GAA’s provincial council in Ulster has thanked fans and security authorities for their work in ensuring people could attend a championship match in Fermanagh today – just a few miles from the location of the G8 summit.
9,352 fans were able to attend this afternoon’s Ulster GAA Senior Football Championship quarter-final between Fermanagh and Cavan, at Brewster Park in Enniskillen – despite heavy security restrictions in the area with the G8 summit taking place at the Lough Erne resort five miles away.
Heavy traffic restrictions had been put in place by the PSNI, in collaboration with An Garda Síóchana who steward travelling Cavan supporters on approach roads south of the border.
Though the Enniskillen ground appeared quiet as the game began, and could easily have accommodated a larger attendance, McAviney seemed satisfied with the size of the crowd given the difficulties that fans would have encountered in trying to get to the game.
“In particular I would like to highlight the excellent support we received from both the PSNI, NI Fire Service and An Garda Síochána,” he said in a statement.
“The event ran to plan and as a result of good organisation we were able to facilitate a match crowd of just under 10,000 with minimal disruption,” he said.
“I would also like to thank the media for their support in communicating the travel arrangements to the public over the last three weeks.”
McAviney offered special thanks to the supporters from both counties for their co-operation with the necessary security arrangements given the scale of the event taking place just outside Enniskillen.
Cavan won the match on a scoreline of 0-13 to 0-11, setting up a semi-final clash with Monaghan. Down will face All-Ireland champions Donegal in the other semi-final.
