Green light for 'soccer and rugby' activity at Croke Park and Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh

The GAA has granted permission for "rugby and soccer activity" to take place in Croke Park and Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the coming months.

Meetings of the GAA's Management Committee and Central Council took place on Friday night and Saturday.

At the GAA’s annual Congress in 2019, the green light had been given by 91% of delegates to allow games other than Gaelic football and hurling to be played at county grounds, once approved by Central
Council.

Last October, Cavan’s Kingspan Breffni hosted an Ulster Rugby pre-season game against Glasgow Warriors - the first Ulster Rugby game hosted at a GAA ground.

This latest news signals further activity from both codes in two of the association’s marquee venues in the near future.

The venue for the Republic of Ireland women's team's Euro 2025 qualifier against France on Tuesday 16 July has yet to be confirmed.

The Aviva Stadium - which will host their other two qualifiers against England and Sweden - is unavailable, while Shamrock Rovers could potentially be in Tallaght Stadium for a Champions League first-round qualifier the same night as the French come to town.

The FAI have yet to confirm where that game will take place but the prospect of the Girls in Green heading to Cork is not unfathomable.

Recently, Croke Park has been slated as a possible fan zone venue for the UEFA Europa League final in May if needed, and last winter it was used as a fan’s event base for a Pittsburgh Steelers NFL game.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh hosted its first rugby match on 10 November 2022. That fixture broke the record for the biggest crowd to attend a rugby match in the province with 41,400 in attendance as Munster beat South Africa 'A’ 28 to 14.

In February of this year, URC champions Munster hosted Super Rugby