Pairc ⁄i Queues

14th Jul 2008

Efficient: Turner's Cross ticket hut.

Pairc Úi Queues
Danny Elbow

After June's Pairc Úi Squeeze debacle when Cork hurlers played Tipperary you'd think the County Board would have, to use a phrase they enjoyed using so much during the strike, "copped on".

At Saturday's annual destruction of the Dubs, thousands of supporters were still queuing outside the terraces twenty minutes after the 5pm throw-in. The chaos stems from far more than the silly line we get from officials that fans are arriving too late.

Although it might mean acknowledging that other sports actually exist (a mortal sin to some aging board men and stewards) they would do well to visit Turners Cross on match day. Admittedly the Cross is a smaller venue but even on big match days there is rarely a problem with queuing. How could this be possible?

The system is mind blowingly simple. Tickets are sold at trailer kiosks outside the stadium keeping cash wielding punters away from the entrance gates. Therefore everyone who arrives at the stadium entrance has a ticket and no money changes hands therein.

In fact, Turners Cross doesn't even require patrons to stop moving once they approach the stadium. With rows of stewards standing in a line just a few yards inside the entrance, supporters can hand over their tickets as they walk into the stadium. This prevents backlog and stops crowds spilling onto the road outside with nobody being sent back for being in the wrong queue or having to wait for change.

Here are three basic and unexpensive recommendations from the PROC:

1. Give the Stewards Loud Hailers
Occasionally when stewards at Pairc Úi Chaoimh decide to acknowledge crowds trying to get into see their heroes they stand up on the red bars near the turnstiles and try to communicate with frustrated supporters. However, their weak efforts usually result in even more confusion where crucial words are not heard properly. The stewards get as frustrated as the crowd. Loud hailers would reduce this problem significantly.

2. Force Stewards to be Helpful
One unhelpful steward, with little sympathy for the children observing the confusion at the marina side of the stadium would only patronise supporters asking questions "same aul story lads, coming down ten minutes before the game".

Why not try to solve the problem instead of commenting (incorrectly anyway) on something that can't be changed? It only serves to further inflame the tempers of paying patrons.

3. Clear signage
Over each turnstile there are signs with just one price. For supporters who are not used to the system it isn't clear if only the stated category of supporter can go that turnstile. For example can juvenilles go through the adult turnstiles?

It seems that juveniles can only be clocked through certain turnstiles (because they are free) which leads to debates between cash collectors at the stiles and parents who are asked to go back through the crowds with their kids to queue up again.

In most cases they are allowed through but the time spent challenging parents about going to the wrong turnstile causes further delays. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

It also costs the same to get into the Blackrock Terrace as the uncovered stand. In fact, once you get inside the stadium you are free to choose either as there is no separation. Why isn't this highlighted properly OUTSIDE?

This leads visiting supporters and some Cork supporters to think that they have to queue at one particular turnstile when they could actually enter several turnstiles with smaller queues. Better signage and more active helpful stewards would eliminate this nonsense.

The paying patrons and dedicated supporters of Cork GAA deserve a little better than the patronising hand-offs they receive when trying to support their hurlers and the organisation they so clearly love.