GAA pundit, Eugene Creaney talks about the challenges for fans ahead of the finals in Dublin and how Translink came to the rescue
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00:00 Eugene Craney, you have your finger on the pulse of all things GAA and there was a bit
00:08 of an interest in how the travel situation is in relation to Sunday's game. What's happening?
00:15 Well, Toronto's league as usual are pretty good to the fans, the IMS supporters are going
00:19 down big numbers. They're recharging their batteries from last Sunday in Cork. The Interests
00:24 are picking up. There's a special train going from Portadown to the Leintjer coach in Belfast
00:28 with the new Belfast hub opening next year. The Leintjer coach in Belfast to Portadown.
00:33 The trains are leaving from Portadown. I think the first batch is on shortly after 9.30pm
00:38 apparently. There's also the normal service trains going down as well, the Enterprise
00:42 and one thing and another. But I think they're pretty well booked. There's some tickets left.
00:45 I'm talking to a guy called Joe Monaghan, who'd be the logistics guy I deal with all
00:48 the time. Some tickets left but I think they'll go before the weekend as far as I know.
00:54 There's a big contingent then coming from Armagh and then there are two other games
00:58 as well with Derry and Down. Absolutely. The Down men are back in Croke Park where they
01:04 want to be, where they think they belong. They're playing on a Saturday in their Division
01:08 3 final. They're doing well under Conor Lafferty. Then you have on a Sunday... The situation
01:12 where fans were concerned about travel would be anybody driving during the M1, the crowd
01:16 are coming from Derry, they're coming from Donegal. Our game's pretty early, a quarter
01:20 to two, so you're going to have a bit of congestion there with the toll-breeze and stuff. They're
01:23 going to be going to training probably for the best of both worlds as it were. Armagh
01:27 fans are looking forward to it. They're bringing a big crowd as they normally do. Anybody who
01:32 wants to stay and watch Dublin and Derry are in for a treat in the Division 1 final straight
01:36 after that. We're looking forward to the game. If you want to ask about, as far as your predictions
01:42 are concerned, Donegal and Armagh are jointed at this moment in time, top of Division 1.
01:46 They've had their initial ambitions relieved as it were. They're going to win the Division
01:51 1 next year. They've got the exact same points, the exact same scoring difference, the exact
01:55 same price in the derby, so it's going to be so, so tight. But everybody's looking forward
01:58 to it. Easter Sunday's not a great day for everybody, but there'll be enough people going
02:02 to make a difference. So is there a big Armagh crowd going then? There will indeed, Carmel,
02:07 absolutely. There always is. A fantastically supportive crowd. They've got a great marketing
02:10 policy at the minute, as you know after the matches they're signing autographs for the
02:14 kids, signing their booklets, signing their jerseys. That's a big push to sell jerseys
02:18 as well, which is fantastic for everybody. So, unlike the old days when people committed
02:22 to changing things, they're going in the direction of the fans, becoming very, very modern. And
02:26 the supporters, I would say the vast majority of fans this year have been under 16, you
02:32 know, and they're bringing their parents and their grandparents as well, which brings everybody
02:35 into the game, as it were.