GAA PRESIDENT LIAM O’Neill has poured cold water on the idea of using the All-Ireland hurling final replay money to finance a nationwide roll out of HawkEye’s score detection system.
The Association made €1.2m in profit from last year’s replayed final between Clare and Cork and can expect a similar windfall later this month presuming the rematch of Kilkenny and Tipperary is a sell out.
The success of HawkEye in confirming that Sunday’s game ended in a draw has prompted speculation that the money could be used to roll out the costly apparatus at various provincial venues.
HawkEye showed that Tipperary free-taker John O’Dwyer’s injury-time point effort missed the upright by a matter of inches, ensuring the replay.
But O’Neill indicated that there are no plans to install HawkEye at other venues such as Thurles’ Semple Stadium in the near future.
“We want to bring it to other grounds but it is not as simple as doing that,” said O’Neill. “You need a number of fixed cameras. You can’t just put a HawkEye camera on a pole because if there is even a fraction of waiver then it doesn’t work.
“That’s why it is fixed rigidly to the stands here at Croke Park. I think there’s only a couple of venues around the country where it could be done at the moment.
“It’s very sensitive technology. To get it working on the Hill 16 End they actually had to put a darkened screen on because the light was interfering with it so they had to tweak it to do that.
“That probably would exist even more so in other places. We asked more of HawkEye than any other game. Cricket is a crease of 22 yards, isn’t it? And a tennis court is around the same and it is perfect for that.
“But to do it over 145m by 90m and with the height difference the hurling ball goes, we asked questions of it and it took a long time to get it right. And if you remember, we said we wouldn’t do it unless it was right.”
Cost
O’Neill insisted that his lukewarm reaction to any HawkEye roll out had nothing to do with the cost element which would be substantial.
“We have never shirked from spending money on something that is worthwhile,” he continued.
O’Neill pointed out how things might have panned out had HawkEye not been in place to confirm that John O’Dwyer’s late point effort for Tipperary went wide.
“Had HawkEye not been there, there would forever be people saying, ‘I saw the ball go over the bar’,” he suggested.
definitely should be in thurles, is a contentious point only important in Croker?
Where does the hurling replay money go so?
Clubs and kids summer camps perhaps?
The GAA has never made a profit. It’s made a surplus on occasion which goes into reserves, something like 50,000 surplus last year on revenue of 30+ million.
Good man Johnny, never let ignorance hold back your opinions.
Thurles, Limerick and probably Portlaoise would be the main ones doesn’t look like it will happen under O Neill though
We get sweet feck all matches in Limerick so you can forget the gaelic grounds ever getting it.
So its a brilliant piece of equipment that was vital on Sunday but its not worth rolling it out nationwide because it would be too hard? Surely it would be simple to incorporate it into Cork, at the very least, as it is being redeveloped. Typical GAA.
Some people are never happy. I mean football is billion dollar global industry and has been behind the GAA on the use of technology but the GAA seem to get more stick.
What’s the big rush, the semi’s and finals are normally played in Croke Park are they not ? The game survived before they had Hawkeye didn’t it?
Typical Gaa a great idea will not be used to it’s full potential and instead the money goes into there back pockets to soften the blow of garth brooks
A TMO like rugby might be cheaper than hawkeye?
If it can be done in Croke Park, surely 1.2 million is enough to get it going in other venues..but its more important to look after other things like Liam O’Neills wages.
Typical GAA, great long vision, can’t see what’s in front of them. Plus, they can’t make any money out of equal technology distribution!