THE BATTLE CRY of ‘Corrigan or Nowhere’ for the Antrim footballers as they dig their heels in around the venue for this spring’s Ulster senior football championship clash with Armagh, goes on after the county named Corrigan Park as their nominated venue.

Officials from Antrim met with the Ulster Council on Tuesday night when concerns were outlined around the staging of the game at the west Belfast venue. Given Armagh’s number of season ticket holders – believed to be over 3,000, along with other entitlements through sponsors, tickets for players and officials, that number would exceed the venue’s capacity of close to 4,000.

There have been suggestions that Antrim and the St John’s club have plenty of time to bring the ground up to scratch with additional seating.

However, that is not even in consideration, given how the venue is licensed by Belfast City Council. Adding more seats would not affect the restrictions imposed within the license.

While there have been suggestions the game might be moved to either Celtic Park in Derry or else Pairc Esler in Newry, neither venue has been mentioned between the two parties. In light of GAA Congress being hosted this weekend, the Ulster Council had appealed to Antrim to park the issue for now and both parties will come back at a later date to consider a solution. 

It is understood however, that the possibility of playing the game in Croke Park might be something that would sell the idea to the Antrim players. Given how they have missed out on Tailteann Cup final appearances over the previous few seasons, a date in headquarters, mooted as part of a potential double-header, might find favour.