The last formal contact between Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom and the GAA was before Christmas so the news this morning that Croke Park was not on the cards for Katie Taylor’s homecoming came a something of a surprise in Croke Park.

“We would love to have hosted Katie Taylor for many, many reasons,” said Stadium and Commercial Director Peter McKenna.

“But to do things right, I.n a manner that is safe and offering a high quality experience is neither easy nor cheap.”

“It takes enormous collaboration between us as a venue, the statutory services that are an essential part of any advent here, the City Council and Government.”

“It is complicated to do it right but that is the only way we approach things.”

Hearn said overnight that Croke Park was three times more expensive to hire than Wembley Stadium, a line that was seized on by keyboard warriors and some supposedly more responsible media today, but McKenna put that in context with real numbers.

“Croke Park would have cost €400,000 to hire as opposed to around €300,000 for Wembley for an event like this that requires additional rigging and set up.”

“The additional costs are centred mainly on security and experience of fans in attendance.”

“We ran a risk analysis on the fact that this was an event taking place late at night, with alcohol, and in a sport which has had its challenges.”

“Collectively, those with a stake in the running of a safe event determined that the mitigation of risk would be at a higher level than most other events and again the collective view was that this cost would need to be borne by the promoter.”

The report into the chaos and violence at Wembley for the Euro 2021 Final was critical of security measures in place there and maybe Matchroom were playing out of a different rulebook.

Regardless, if Amanda Serrano wins on Saturday night, the likelihood is a Dublin date on May 20th, the same night as the Heineken Cup final at the Aviva stadium, but taking place in the 3 Arena.

That’s not the fault of the GAA, the Government or anyone else. It is simply business and in professional boxing, that is the only bottom line.