Up on the roof: Croker to offer bird's eye tours

[sheepshagger]

THE GAA is to offer rooftop walking tours of Dublin's Croke Park from early next year which will offer visitors panoramic views over the capital.

A walkway will be built on the roof of the stadium and tours will be offered from next January, costing in the region of €100.

Based on the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, the walkway will be 35 metres above ground.

It will give visitors a bird's eye view of the capital, with uninterrupted 360 degree views of Dublin Bay, the mountains, the Spire on O'Connell Street, the Obelisk in the Phoenix Park and Liberty Hall.

The plan was announced yesterday morning as daredevil Eskil Ronningsbakken balanced on a giant, wire figure '3' some 60 metres above the ground to advertise a mobile phone company's new branding slogan "Do things you never thought possible".

He appeared at the home of the GAA to help advertise the new rooftop walking tours of Croke Park.

Around 80,000 people a year already visit the Croke Park museum, and the rooftop tours are expected to swell numbers. The GAA will shortly begin building the walkway, with a view to opening it next January.

"The walkway will be around the entire stadium, and it will take about four hours to complete the tour," a spokesman said.

"There's fairly stringent safety measures, so they have to be gone through, which will take about 30 minutes. The tour itself will be about an hour, and then two-and-a-half hours for the history of Croke Park.

"They will have to make sure people are fit and able to do it," the spokesman said. "There will be five platforms with views of Dublin and one pitchside viewing platform.

"It's the first stadium in the world to have such a tour and is modelled on the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. The tours could be under €100, but the fee has yet to be decided and will be based on construction costs, safety equipment and the cost of stewards."

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 79674.html

[LeRouxIsPHat]

If there's an option to just do the walk for about 30 quid then I'd be interested but otherwise that seems far too expensive. Nice idea though!

[sheepshagger]

If there's an option to just do the walk for about 30 quid then I'd be interested but otherwise that seems far too expensive. Nice idea though!

Can see it being popular even at around €100 if you compare it to other 'attractions' around the world.

Sydney harbour bridge climb is about that these days

http://www.bridgeclimb.com/The-Climbs/Pricing/

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Jeez, I wouldn't have thought it was that expensive.In my head I was comparing it to places like the empire state, rockerfeller and the Eiffel tower. Can't remember exactly what they cost but it was a helluva lot cheaper than €100.

[honeyec]

daredevil Eskil Ronningsbakken

Best. Name. Ever.

[Bosco]

would prefer the guinness bar in the storehouse myself

[jrc]

If there's an option to just do the walk for about 30 quid then I'd be interested but otherwise that seems far too expensive. Nice idea though!

Can see it being popular even at around €100 if you compare it to other 'attractions' around the world.

Sydney harbour bridge climb is about that these days

http://www.bridgeclimb.com/The-Climbs/Pricing/

Maybe it's because I'm Irish and I've probably been to Croker more than 100 times, but it just doesn't seem anywhere near as exciting as the Sydney Bridge Climb (which I did, paid about 200 quid for, and loved!).

[dipper]

daredevil Eskil Ronningsbakken

Best. Name. Ever.

Is he related to the volcano in Iceland?

[sheepshagger]

Maybe it's because I'm Irish and I've probably been to Croker more than 100 times, but it just doesn't seem anywhere near as exciting as the Sydney Bridge Climb (which I did, paid about 200 quid for, and loved!).

It will be, tourists will love this.

[gfo]

Anyone ever do the museum tour in Croker? The gf did it with some American friends and said it was great. I just cant be arsed going near it for non-match reasons

[suisse]

would prefer the guinness bar in the storehouse myself

And for €14 too (at least it was when I was there). Got to watch some auld Guinness ads and if you f**kin' hate heights, it's the best option

[Cianostays]

I'm supposed to be the guide for some of these tours (I work in the Museum). The first person to tell me about these tours was Anne Doyle whilst watching the news! You'd have thought that we might have been informed before it went on the national news!

[ribs]

I'll stick to climbing the 3 Rock for the views instead