THOUSANDS of GAA fans are being forced to look on the black market for tickets to Saturday’s All-Ireland Senior Football semi-final replay between Dublin and Mayo following a calamitous day of sales on Monday.
The GAA’s online purchasing system crashed during the digital rush, while punters who opted to buy their tickets in the flesh were allowed to get their hands on as many as they wished, with some leaving the box office with up to six pairs.
By the time the online issue was resolved – at least two hours after tickets had gone on general sale elsewhere – the large majority had been bought up by the enormous queue at the outlet on Dorset Street, Dublin.
An eight-ticket limit was eventually placed on the queuing buyers, but tickets are now on offer on distribution websites for up to three times their face value, which was €20 for Hill 16, €30 for the stands and €5 for children.
According to The Herald, 72 per cent of the unsuccessful users who tried to buy tickets online were Dublin-based, with 25 per cent scattered around the country, while three per cent attempted from London.
Despite Sunday’s initial meeting between Dublin and Mayo being a sell-out and a tense, entertaining affair, a GAA spokesman claimed the association were not expecting such high demand ahead of Monday’s re-sale.
"We did not anticipate that there were going to be queues this morning whatsoever. It hasn't happened before," the spokesman said. "We're not mind-readers – there have been lots of big games this year with no queues on Dorset Street. We were caught unawares."
