All roads lead to Croke Park this Sunday...but be sure to plan your journey in advance

All roads lead to Croke Park this Sunday with a mass exodus from the Royal County expected as fans from all corners of the county make their way to GAA headquarters to cheer on the boys in green.

For the last two outings to Croke Park, there has been criticism of public transport providers for failing to made adequate provision for the hoards of fans making the journey but this time there seems to be more foreplanning from Irish Rail with a spokesperson confirming that it will run special services direct from M3 Parkway to Drumcondra as well as scheduled services.

Barry Kenny of Irish Rail said they would be operating additional services from M3 Parkway, and direct to Drumcondra without a change at Clonsilla, as well as the scheduled services which do connect. Full details of the additional services have not yet been confirmed but are expected to announced in the next day or two.

Meanwhile, Bus Eireann has warned customers to expect increased demand and says capacity would be limited. When queried about whether extra services would be put on to facilitate increased demand for matchgoers, a spokesperson for Bus Eireann said: "On 13th July 2025, we will operate our full scheduled timetables on all routes in the Greater Dublin Area including those that operate in Co Meath. We will be reminding customers that there will be increased demand for all these services due to various events that will be happening in the city and that capacity on these services will be limited. Subject to the availability of resources, a small number of auxiliary services to/from the city may be operated at scheduled departure times.

"Additionally, we would advise all customers travelling from Donegal to Dublin on 13th July to pre-book their seats at expressway.ie. Those travelling from Letterkenny can avail of one of 12 daily return trips to Dublin on Route 32, while Route 30 offers 13 daily return trips from Donegal. Seating is limited on both services and we strongly advise intending passengers to book in advance."

Meanwhile, the Meath GAA Supporters Club is putting on three buses to Croke Park leaving from Navan Retail Park at 1pm and secretary Tony O'Brien said all three buses are now booked out.

The local supporters club organise buses to all Meath away matches- the first this year being to Cork- and Tony said there isn't a county in Ireland that they haven't run buses to.

Among those travelling will be Shane Cassells, former TD and Senator, who says "it's the only way to travel!"

"This is the tenth away game of the season between league and championship on the bus. Everyone has got to know each other on the bus over the seasons and there is a real family atmosphere among the supporters," he said.

"There has been plenty to cheer about coming home this season and hopefully that will be the case this Sunday!"

The Meath GAA Supporters Club, which has been running since the 1980's, also contributes towards team costs with money raised from the car park and also through clubmembership.

"This year alone we have put a lot of money into looking after all of the Meath teams this year,” says Tony O’Brien.

"At the start of the year we agreed we would help towards feeding the teams and transport and medical costs and we've done that.

"There is a lot of stuff that they county board wouldn't have the money to cover and we help out," explained Tony.

Tony said over the last two decades their main source of income has been the car park at Pairc Tailteann but there has been a boost to their in membership this year with the team doing so well and he is appealing to more people to buy a membership and show their support for the county teams.

"Over the past 20 years our main income has been the car park due to lack of success on the field. It involves a lot of hourly work by myself and others and is our main funding. But we have seen membership increase since we started doing well again," said Tony estimating that membership has grown from around 70 last year to 250-300 this year.

Individual membership is €25 and family membership is €70. Members get entered into draws for tickets and merchandise and also get a car sticker and a pen. A draw took place yesterday evening for members with two tickets up for grabs for Sunday's game.