A spokesperson for the GAA has confirmed to Balls.ie that two arrests were made after yesterday's Kilkenny v Clare game, after video footage surfaced on social media of another fight amongst GAA supporters on Hill 16.
The spokesperson also said that one patron required medical assistance.
The arrests come a week after the gardaí confirmed that 7 arrests had been made by gardaí following a brawl between Armagh and Monaghan supporters. 15 supporters were ejected by Croke Park staff.
In the clip from the Kilkenny-Clare game on Sunday, a young man can be seen throwing a punch amidst a group of Kilkenny fans, including a young woman.
In a second clip which surfaced this morning that appears to be filmed moments later, a member of the gardaí can be seen amidst a group of supporters while a young woman has a visible cut above her eye.
Unsavoury scenes on Hill 16
After the incident with Armagh and Monaghan fans last week, the GAA's director of communications Alan Milton was very called the scenes "very unsavoury and unpleasant" while speaking to RTÉ's News at One.
"What took place on Hill 16 on Saturday… was not what we come to expect from our games anywhere or from those who attend them.”
"We’ve already liaised with the gardaí. I think there were 15 ejections in total, and just to put that in context on a weekend when we had 140,000 people in total in Croke Park, there were no arrests or ejections yesterday [the second All-Ireland quarterfinal day]. So, we’re very keen to message with our county units and indeed clubs if required to call out this type of behaviour and to remind people that there’s simply no place for it.”
That sentiment was re-affirmed today by a GAA spokesperson.
Writing in yesterday's Sunday Times, Mick Foley had a timely meditation on the changing dynamic of the Hill over the past few decades. Croke Park stadium director Peter McKenna opines that self-regulation is the best way to manage supporters on Hill 16.
“A lot of the supporters that go to Hill 16 are usually sensible. The crowd getting regulated by itself is by far the best way to deal with [trouble].”
He also added ominously.
“It doesn’t take many [troublemakers] to take that away.”
Should incidents like this continue, GAA supporters are at risk of losing something very unique.
