Lessons must be learned from football fiasco
- Lansdowne Road, Croke Park and other regional sports grounds must be designated under the legislation
Labour enterprise spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has said lessons must be learned from the Ireland v Portugal ticket fiasco.
Deputy Ó Ríordáin said:
“Despite the efforts by government to end ticket scalping, it’s clear that the legislation needs to be revisited to provide specific designation to venues. The price of tickets for Ireland v Portugal are already selling for two or three times face value which is only going to increase the closer we get to the game.
“The effect of this black market is making it more difficult for ordinary fans to get tickets. The only people who benefit are the ticket touts who are making obscene tax-free profits from this. The good has really been taken away from the build up to the match at this stage.
“We need to learn lessons from this and make sure that this is the last time ticket touts ruin the fun for everyone. Under the legislation, it would be easy to designate venues like Lansdowne Road, Croke Park and other regional sports grounds immediately and I would urge government to act now to do so. As various members of government try to distance themselves from the matter, we need someone to take responsibility and act now before something like this happens again.
“The Ireland v Portugal match should have been a real celebration as we see more and more fans return to games. Let this be the last time that fans experience this and ensure that ticket touting is stamped out once and for all for all events.”