News: Higher safety standards at GAA grounds around the country will continue to affect recommended crowd capacities, according to Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney.

Yesterday the Leinster Council announced that the Offaly-Westmeath championship match has been switched to Croke Park because of the reduced capacity set by safety officers at the original venue of O'Connor Park in Tullamore.

The game was set for May 16th, but will now take place in Croke Park a week later, Sunday, May 23rd, as part a double-bill with another senior first-round football tie between Meath and Wicklow. That game was originally set for Portlaoise.

Such a move was anticipated after it emerged earlier this week that an independent health and safety report, carried out by the National Safety Council and commissioned on behalf of the Leinster Council, recommended that the capacity of the Tullamore ground be set at 10,600 - some 5,000 less than the previous recommended capacity.

The Games Administration Committee of the Leinster Council met on Wednesday night to discuss the implications of that recommendation, with representatives of the Offaly County Board also present. It was agreed that a crowd in excess of 15,000 could be expected in present circumstances, and that the best alternative was to re-fix the Offaly-Westmeath game to go with Wicklow-Meath, a double-bill that should attract around 35-40,000.

"When we first brought the issue to Offaly they accepted that we had a problem, and agreed that something had to be done about it," explained Delaney. "We discussed a few alternatives. One of them was to move the game to Westmeath's home ground, Cusack Park, in Mullingar, and Offaly in fact agreed to that. But again we'd estimated the crowd for the game at around 15,000, and the safety capacity at Cusack Park is now at 14,000.

"We probably could have gone with that, but it probably would have meant eliminating all the family tickets and limiting other concessions. And we just didn't want to do that. So moving it to Croke Park with the Wicklow-Meath game was really the best option."

The main concern safety officers had with O'Connor Park was the absence of barriers on the long stretch of grass bank opposite to the main stand. Delaney admitted that the Leinster Council is reviewing capacities at venues around the province in light of higher standards of safety.

"Right now, though, we wouldn't have any real concerns about other grounds," he said, "in that in most cases we can still get away with it. We do, for example, have a game going ahead in Tullamore on May 9th between Carlow and Longford, where we have estimated the attendance to be between 6-8,000."

Yet Delaney also made it clear that safety has taken on far greater importance in establishing which venues are suitable for particular fixtures. "There's no question it has. As the games get more popular more grounds are going to be filled close to their capacity. And safety requirements go hand in hand with that.

"And we will always err on the side of safety. So we will always be keeping an eye on what the safety capacity for any ground is where we intend on fixing championship matches.

"So definitely the days of packing in as many as possible are well over. People want their comfort. We could probably get 30,000 into O'Connor Park next month if we wanted to, without the concerns for safety requirements. But that wouldn't necessarily mean we could get them in, keep them in, and then get them out safely."

As a result of the re-fixture, Offaly do lose their home advantage, but it has also provided the county with the final impetus to start redevelopment work at O'Connor Park. Details of that work, coincidentally, will be formally launched in Tullamore this evening as part of the first in a series of fundraising events.

The revamp will involve the construction of a new stand and terrace area, which will increase the capacity to around the 30-33,000, as well as meet the highest standards of safety.

Some concerns were voiced about staging the first-round games in Croke Park, particularly as a triple-bill last year at the same stage of the Leinster championship attracted a poor turnout of just 17,200. Delaney, however, is confident it will prove a worthy venture.

"The four counties involved have all got some hype behind them at the moment for various reasons. Offaly has just had an excellent league, and the Páidí factor is still huge in Westmeath. Meath have also got big interest going again and Wicklow have just had their best league for years. So expecting a crowd of over 35,000 is quite realistic."

It was also announced, incidentally, that the Leinster minor football championship game between Longford and Carlow, fixed for Longford tomorrow, has been postponed to next Wednesday, where it will be played at 6.15 at the same venue.