Katie Taylor's Croke Park dream a matter for the GAA says government minister
Minister for sport Patrick O'Donovan has said that it will be up to the GAA to decide whether they want to make Katie Taylor's dream of fighting in Croke Park come true.The minister was speaking after Taylor revealed that she planned to end her storied career in 2026, and that she would love for her final fight to take place at the home of the GAA.A fight at Croke Park has been lobbied by Taylor and her promoter Eddie Hearn for many years, but the Matchroom boss has always claimed that the cost of renting Croke Park for a fight night was too high, that Croke Park bosses have little interest in boxing, and has frequently used momentous Taylor wins to call on the Irish government to get involved and help make the event a reality.Taylor's comments while promoting the launch of the Ladies National GAA Leagues at Croke Park earlier this week, where she stated that she wanted to end her career at Croker, has reignited hopes that it actually might happen.But should it happen, it will only happen if the GAA decide to stage the event, and there will be no government involvement."One of the very important things that national governing bodies has is independence."It's never appropriate for a Minister to tell the national governing bodies of sport what they should do with their assets. But I want to thank her for everything that she has done for Ireland. Obviously, she has given an enormous lift at a time when we needed it, and to wish her the very, very best of luck on whatever the road has in the next chapter in her life."We don't do commercial interactions between national governing bodies and how they use their assets to grow their own revenue or for what they want to us."Taylor last fought in July 2025 when she beat Amanda Serrano for the third time. Many expected her to retire after that bout, but she has stated that she will continue fighting until the end of 2026."This will probably be my last year in the ring I'd say and I'd love to end my career here in Ireland."Croke Park is looking very nice today isn't it? So please make it happen. I want to end my career here."Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond
