Soaring hotel prices combined with a shortage of beds have hit the Kerry hurling team ahead of an upcoming final clash in Dublin.
The team is due to face Antrim in the Joe McDonagh Cup final in Croke Park on June 4th, but have been unable to book rooms at a hotel ahead of the game.
Demand for rooms is rising, with tourists returning to the country and many rooms being used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.
Kerry chairman Patrick O’Sullivan told the Irish Independent they could not get accommodation for the hurlers from Adare to Dublin, forcing them to travel up and down to the capital on the same day as the match.
Former Kerry footballer Darragh Ó Sé said players would normally follow a routine before a major final, which will now be disrupted.
“It takes a lot from the whole event, I’m not really sure what they’re going to do,” he told Newstalk radio.
“Will they go up halfway up the country, then you’re getting back on a bus, taking up the second half of the country?
“It’s very difficult for the players because… the current Kerry hurling team have been in finals before so they’re used to that routine.”
Room rates
GAA fans face the same issue as they attempt to secure accommodation to attend their county’s Croke Park clash.
Amid the spiralling prices to spend a night in the capital, a number of politicians have called for the Irish Hotels Federation to appear before an Oireachtas Committee to explain the costs.
Fianna Fáil councillor in Dublin Danny Byrne is a former hotel manager, and said room rates are getting out of hand.
“On this Saturday I looked – a very ordinary hotel charging I think it’s €560 for one night, and I’m not sure if that includes breakfast,” told Newstalk radio.
“If you skip on to next May at the Bruce Springsteen concert on the 5th of May, a hotel on the quays in Dublin [is] charging €899.”
