THE DONEGAL County Board’s success in staging the Ulster Championship clash with Tyrone in Ballybofey is expected to pay rich dividends – all 18,000 tickets are expected to sell out.
The Board are already discussing how they deal with a frenzied rush on tickets for the clash.
But for the player it’s a rich reward for all their hard work.
Mark McHugh reflected the feelings of all the players on the Ulster Council’s decision to refuse Tyrone’s bid to switch the match to their own back yard in Clones.
“We are delighted, it’s a big lift to us. It is something we have been pushing for since we first heard the draw,” said Mark
“We felt we deserved the game to be in Ballybofey, us being All-Ireland champions, so we are delighted.
“Championship training starts next Tuesday and we’ll be fully focused on it and everything we do from now will be concentrating on Tyrone.
“I think we half expected it maybe to go to Clones. The majority of people seemed to think Ballybofey was too small. But I think Ballybofey will hold 18,000 now so there will be a great atmosphere on the day.
“The last number of years we have been away from home in the preliminary round. So it is good to get back to Ballybofey. For the local people of Donegal, it will bring a bit of a boost to the economy. There is going to be a lot of hype building up to it.”
Certainly local businesses are delighted.
A spokesman for Jackson’s Hotel told us: “There’s already quite a few enquiries about rooms that weekend. It’s great for the town and it’s great for Donegal.”
It is the same at the Villa Rose where only a handful of rooms are left for the last weekend in May.
Throw-in is currently 4pm on May 26 – subject to change by TV companies, with both BBC and RTE wanting to cover the match.
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