‘I’LL ADDRESS GAVIN CONCERNS’

CROKE Park stadium director Peter McKenna is open to discussing Dublin manager Jim Gavin’s criticism of the venue staging concerts during the summer. Gavin hit out at the decision to hold a Taylor Swift gig at the Jones Road venue six days before the Leinster SFC final last summer. McKenna (left) said he tried to contact the Dublin manager to address his concerns and claimed the Blues boss’ comments may have been made as a deflection tactic. ‘I stand over it from a technical point of view,’ said McKenna. ‘We test that pitch, all the metrics of it. ‘Managers need to deflect, they don’t want to talk about an issue that is brought up, so the pitch is an easy way to create a diversion. We know exactly what the performance metrics of that pitch are in

terms of stud turn, hardness and so on. There is no issue with the pitch.’ McKenna said he tried to contact Gavin several times to discuss his comments and defend his ground staff. ‘I am very conscious that the fellas that do the pitch are just regular lads and they have millions of people scrutinising their work and they are back-page (news) invariably during the year. That’s an awful lot of pressure to be on fellas. ‘They are my team and I will defend their ability to do their work because I think they are brilliant and if there is criticism, I will go and chat to the guy who is making it. And say, let’s talk this through and tweak whatever the issues are. But sometimes, it is not always easy to catch managers on the phone.’ Croke Park stadium had another strong year in 2018, as revealed in the GAA’s annual accounts, with turnover at €42.8million, up €100,000 on the previous year. The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift (twice) and Michael Buble all played at the Dublin 3 venue last summer, which, along with the Papal visit and Mass in August, helped generate more than €3m.