Kerry hurlers unable to find Dublin hotel rooms for Croke Park fixture

A shortage of affordable hotel rooms in Dublin means that Kerry's county hurlers - finalists in next month's Joe McDonagh Cup - will be travelling to and from home in the one day for their Croke Park fixture.

Patrick O'Sullivan, Chairman of the Kerry County Board, told RTÉ's News At One about the efforts they made to secure accommodation for the hurlers.

He said they rang around hotels in Dublin and by Monday they could not get anywhere as they were booking for 45-50 people.

Later, two hotels came back with prices of €13,000 to €15,000.

He said the players had a meeting as even the families of players could not get rooms and were quoted €1,100 for a family, with past players also struggling due to the prices.

The decision was taken for the team to come home after the match.

Kerry GAA also decided at that point to pre-pay for accommodation for a football game they have not yet qualified for and therefore do not know when or if it will take place.

The county board has pre-paid €13,000 for hotel rooms on the weekend of the All-Ireland football quarter-finals or run the risk of encountering the same problem as the hurlers.

"Prices were €17,000 to €13,000 because of concerts on in Dublin that night, they barely had enough room for a Saturday night," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"If we play on a Saturday night, we have no accommodation for the Friday night.

"About 85% of the time we play our matches on a Sunday, so we took a chance and booked for Sunday."

The Irish Independent reported today that the Kerry hurlers could not get accommodation anywhere close to the city.

The experience of Kerry GAA has once again focused attention on the extraordinary prices being asked of anyone seeking a hotel room in the capital, especially if they are booking at