Following last weekend's All Ireland Senior Championship semi finals, Kerry supporters have been accused of throwing bottles of water at the crowd at Hill 16.
This comes after reports of disturbances, as well as health and safety risks on Hill 16 were raised following last Sunday's semi final between Kerry and Dublin at Croke Park, The Kerryman reported.
According to a post from a reputable Facebook page of a Dublin GAA supports group, "serious safety concerns cannot be ignored", accusing Kerry supporters of throwing bottles at Dublin fans during the game.
In a statement shared by the Dubs' fan page, it read: “The scenes were simply not good enough. For years, Hill 16 has been one of the most iconic places in Irish sport, but yesterday (Sunday) there were serious safety concerns that cannot be ignored".
The page also mentioned issues of overcrowding, with the aisles "packed with people" standing throughout the game, which they said made it difficult for fans to move feely. This also caused concerns over health and safety if an emergency had occurred, leading to potentially dangerous consequences.
“There was also completely unacceptable behaviour from a small number of young Kerry fans who were throwing full bottles of water on top of the crowd below", they continued. “One young Dublin supporter was struck by a bottle and left visibly distressed. Next time, it could be much worse. This isn’t an attack on Kerry supporters. The majority were a credit to their county, just as the majority of Dublin supporters were".
However, The Kerryman have also reported that An Garda Síochána claimed they did not receive any complaints of this nature following the match.
Stewards working at Hill 16 had also reported being overwhelmed due to the size of the crowd and in many cases, felt unable to intervene. They also claimed there was a limited Garda presence in the areas it was most needed.
Elsewhere, dozens of security people were also stationed around the edge of the pitch in case of a pitch invasion.
A statement read: “The GAA and Croke Park have a duty of care to every person who walks through those turnstiles. Yesterday exposed shortcomings that need to be addressed before another major match".
“Supporters shouldn’t accept this as ‘just part of match day.’ If you experienced the overcrowding or witnessed the incidents on Hill 16, please consider contacting Croke Park and asking what measures will be put in place to prevent it happening again. Nobody wants to see someone seriously injured before meaningful action is taken".
Croke Park were yet to comment on the matter at the time of writing.
Kerry prevailed in this semi final, beating Kerry by 2-18 to 0-20.
Earlier this week, Dublin GAA star, Ciaran Kilkenny announced his retirement from inter-county football. More on this from Nova here.
