Croker alarm at sightings of cup replicas

AMID reports more than one Liam MacCarthy Cup has been sighted around Galway, Croke Park have said they would be very concerned if replicas are being used and masqueraded as the real trophy.

A Croker spokesperson said the Liam MacCarthy and Sam Maguire cups are governed by copyright since new versions of the trophies were made almost 30 years ago.

“It is unacceptable that replicas or any of our trophies be made and circulated and we would welcome any information on this,” he said.

Reports in the west say at least two other replicas have been doing the rounds in recent months, often at commercial or social events. These are being circulated by people not involved with the team or the county committee but are connected to the GAA.

The issue of a possible replica came to light in October when one appeared at an event at the same time that the real cup was brought to a function by team members. Galway county committee chairman Pat Kearney stressed the only trophy they circulate is the cup they were presented with.

He said he had heard a replica or two were in circulation and urged anyone looking to have the trophy to go through official county committee channels to get it.

“As far as I am concerned we have one cup. We have heard reports of replica cups. We have one cup and Croke Park will probably be making some policy on that. The MacCarthy is prized and we fought hard for 29 years for that. We won’t be going around with any replica cup,” he said.

The spokesperson confirmed that an official replica of the Liam MacCarthy Cup had been made and has been used occasionally for promotional purposes but use of this was under strict governance and it was never used in public.

He also confirmed the trophy presented to Galway’s David Burke on September 3 was the real Liam MacCarthy Cup.