THEY are not alone in trying to source tickets for the All-Ireland hurling final.
But, if 33 Palestinian kids and 17 adults succeed in getting into Croke Park for Cork and Tipperary’s showdown on Sunday week, it will pale into insignificance compared to the other obstacles they have had to overcome.
The group is due to arrive in Dublin on Friday week for a fortnight’s stay which has been overseen by GAA Palestine with clubs pulling together to give them the best possible experience.
For example, the weekend before last, St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh’s Under-8 boys, Under-15 and minor girls teams joined forces to hold a fundraiser which brought in €2,315.
Flights for the group came in at around €40,000 but other costs have been brought right down with families across the country volunteering to put them up and Paddywagon providing free transport for the two weeks.
Already, though, logistics have ensured that they have had to drop their intention to include the six counties on their itinerary.
They have experienced lengthy delays in trying to obtain visas for them to travel to the Republic of Ireland without trying to negotiate a second process on top of that.
But a solution has been found whereby the clubs in Belfast and Derry which were due to host events for them will instead travel across the border to ensure they still play their part.
It will reinforce what might be seen as an unlikely bond between Ireland’s indigenous sports and a small, besieged corner of the Middle East.
The first and to date only GAA club was founded in Ramallah by English-born Irishman Stephen Redmond last year.
It was renamed the Moataz Sarsour after a club volunteer who was killed by the Israeli Defence Forces last August.
Curiously, it is hurling rather than football which has captured the imagination and become known as ‘the freedom sport’.
GAA Palestine posted a video of Quassy who used a slat from his bed in the tent he has lived in since his home in Gaza was destroyed, for a hurl to be crafted by a carpenter neighbour.
Clearly, getting people out of Gaza in the current circumstances is impossible with those travelling all coming from the West Bank.
The usual hold-ups by Israeli troops to cross into Egypt are anticipated but it is hoped their journey will otherwise pass off unhitched to allow them avail of Irish hospitality and offer some respite from their daily struggles.
- TO donate to the Dublin leg of the trip, visit www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/aislingmcgovern1.
- Or to donate to the Cork leg, go to www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/MuireannWalsh1.
