THE GAA'S FISH and chips supporters cannot bank on being fed by that great national organisation even though it has just bought one of the best known chippers in Dublin's north inner city.
With an extra €10 million in its coffers this year from rugby and soccer fans, the GAA moved swiftly last week to buy the One 'N' One takeaway outlet at 54 Lower Dorset Street, just around the corner from Croke Park. Not surprisingly, the building did not come cheap because it is every bit as important an institution to locals as Croke Park.
Agent Douglas Newman Good Commercial invited offers around €1.1 million for the two-storey terraced shop and no sooner was the sale sign up when the GAA's property expert nipped round and clinched the deal at the asking price.
"It was easily the fastest sale of the year," says Nick Crawford of DNG. "There was no messing... it all went very smoothly. There was a small glitch in the legal documents but, to the credit of the GAA, they went around to the chipper and told the owner that the sale would go ahead once they sorted out the small problem."
The GAA's official spokesman Danny Lynch later broke the news that in due course the much loved chipper will close and the shop will be converted into a ticket office for Croke Park.
One neighbouring shopkeeper, hard pushed to compete with the city's price cutting multiples and German discounters, is hoping that the Croke Park gravy train will continue long after the Lansdowne Road stadium is completed. With any luck Croke Park may need another ticket outlet.
