ULSTER GAA would be amenable to Ulster Rugby using one of its grounds for a Saturday pre-season friendly in early October if a suitable venue can be found in the middle of what is a very busy period of club championship activity.
The Irish News understands that the major issue in hosting the game would centre around how Ulster Rugby’s 10,000 season ticket holders would be accommodated since there is no GAA venue in Belfast that could cater for a crowd of that size.
Kingspan Stadium is closed at present due to a new 3G all-weather pitch being laid and it is understood that Ulster Rugby reached out to the GAA for a possible venue and that stadia across all nine counties of the province are being considered including Kingspan Breffni, home of Cavan GAA.
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Should a suitable ground that suits Ulster Rugby be identified, GAA Central Council would have to sanction the game but that isn’t expected to be a stumbling block.
An Ulster GAA spokesperson said: "We can neither confirm or deny media reports about the possibility of the Ulster Rugby team playing a game at a GAA stadium this autumn."
Ulster Rugby hosted a Gaelic Football match in 2014 when, with Casement Park unavailable, the ‘Game for Anto’ was held between The Irish News Ulster Allstars, managed by Joe Kernan, and Jim Gavin’s Dublin at Ravenhill.
The match, which featured All-Ireland winners on both sides including Dean Rock, Peter Harte and Philly McMahon, was the first ever GAA game played at the home of Ulster Rugby. Attended by over 6,000 fans, it was championed by the late Antrim star Anto Finnegan and raised more than £70,000 for the deterMND charity for the treatment of Motor Neurone Disease.
