Gaelic Games

‘I can’t see it happening’: Katie Taylor fight at Croke Park not on the cards, says stadium director

Peter McKenna says he hasn’t been in contact with promoter Eddie Hearn since October 2023

Katie Taylor during her fight against Amanda Serrano in Arlington, Texas in November. Photograph: Ed Mulholland/Inpho
Katie Taylor during her fight against Amanda Serrano in Arlington, Texas in November. Photograph: Ed Mulholland/Inpho
Seán Moran
Thu Feb 06 2025 - 16:36

Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna has apparently ruled out a Katie Taylor title fight taking place in the stadium this year.

Asked about the prospect at the launch of the GAA’s annual reports on Thursday, McKenna said, “no” despite apparent optimism on the part of promoter Eddie Hearn.

“Being honest, Eddie hasn’t been in touch with us. The last time I talked to (Hearn’s promotion company) Matchroom was, I’d say, probably October 2023.

“It flashes up every so often but no, we haven’t been contacted,” McKenna added.

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“It’s trying to find out where would be the slot. I think the difficulty there is that what’s the style of the event? And what time of the year it would be on? We have Oasis and Robbie Williams, so the calendar, really there’s not a lot of space to say, ‘Yeah, I could fit it in on that weekend’, or whatever.”

The concerts take place in August when the GAA championship season has ended.

Hearn had previously criticised the cost of security at Croke Park, saying it was higher than Wembley and other stadiums, noting it as the chief obstacle to doing business with the GAA.

Peter McKenna speaking at the launch of the GAA's annual reports on Thursday. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Peter McKenna speaking at the launch of the GAA's annual reports on Thursday. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho

Two years ago, McKenna also addressed the issue when it first arose.

“Our rent was coming in around €400,000; I think the rent for Wembley is about £250,000/300,000. The real issue here is about security costs that which we felt the promoter should carry and having gone through this with statutory services and our own team. We looked at the risk analysis on the event and we felt that the amount of security that you’d need would be at the top level and that is not inexpensive.

“So we, and I think everyone in the event industry based in Ireland, would pride ourselves on the fact that we run very, very safe events and if that costs then that’s a cost that we have to do. The eyes of the world are on us for these types of events and we’re not going to change our position on that.”

Speaking on Thursday, McKenna doubted that security is still a deal-breaker.

“I don’t think it is. The approach seems to be megaphone diplomacy, throw everything at it and something will happen in that sense. Katie Taylor is a magnificent athlete and I think everyone is very, very proud of what she’s achieved as an athlete.

“But to fill Croke Park with 80,000, you need an undercard, you need a whole razzmatazz to go with it. Those things can’t be done in a short period of time. Even getting an event management plan together, getting the city council to approve it and so on, there’d be a fair bit of work in that.

“So, I think it’s a kite flyer rather than a genuine ... I can’t see it happening because we haven’t heard about it, bar reading (about it) in the papers.”

Katie Taylor is world super-lightweight champion, having defeated Amanda Serrano in a rematch in Texas last November. Talks on staging a third fight between the pair are ongoing.

Seán Moran

Seán Moran

Seán Moran is GAA Correspondent of The Irish Times