A TD has written to the DAA asking if they would facilitate flights between Cork and Dublin this Sunday to meet transport demands for the All-Ireland hurling final.

Some 82,000 fans will be taking to Croke Park for the highly anticipated Cork v Clare clash, with neither team having lifted the Liam McCarthy Cup in the last decade.

Irish Rail has put on six extra trains from each of the two Munster counties, in addition to normal services, but Bus Éireann has added no additional services to help with public transport demands.

On Lunchtime Live today Cork North-Central TD Thomas Gould said he has been appealing to the Department of Transport to accommodate the demand.

“We need to get the tens of thousands of Cork fans up to Dublin; we need to get them up there and we need to do it safely,” he said.

“There are no extra services from Bus Éireann which is not good enough so, at this moment, we have no trains, no buses or flights.

"I’ve even contacted the DAA asking them if they would support Ryanair or Aer Lingus putting on flights.

“I’ve also written to Eamon Ryan, the Transport Minister, last week to ask him about opening up the toll at Portlaoise.”

Clare's Colm Galvin lifts the Liam McCarthy Cup in 2013.  Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE

Claire from Cork told the show that more options are needed to meet demand from supporters.

“Only eight trains are going up between 5.40am and 1.40pm on Sunday, which only covers 3,000 people going to the match,” she said.

“Me, my husband and my children were online for six hours trying to book tickets last Friday and when I went down to the station, I was told they had been sold out within eight minutes.

“I’ve been supporting Cork from day one, my first All-Ireland final was in the 70s, but Iarnród Éireann are forgetting a lot of us fans wouldn’t be up to date with computers and having access to laptops for booking.”

Train passengers arrive to Connolly Station in Dublin. Image: Radharc Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Irish Rail spokesperson Barry Kenny said there are complications to increasing services.

“It’s down to what our network can take, what drivers we have and what trains we have available,” he said.

“We’ve got six additional trains from each county that will get you there for throw in and it isn’t a case where we can take a driver from one part of the country and move them down to the Cork line, because our drivers have to know the route.

“We are working to see if we can get at least one more train from Cork, and we will have more news on that later in the week.”

Booking early

Cork GAA superfan Cyril ‘The Bird’ Kavanagh said it’s important to book train tickets early.

“The hype this year is crazy and everyone you speak to is looking for tickets to this match or tickets for the train,” he said.

“I booked my train tickets before I even started looking for a match ticket because I’ve learned my lesson from the past from going to matches for so long.”

The match is set to kick off at 3.30pm.

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Main image: Image shows a Ryanair plane (left) and Croke Park (right). Images: Alamy.com