Third Stadium for Dublin?

Taken from hoganstand.com;

The GAA is believed to be considering building a third stadium in Dublin.

According to a report in today's Irish Daily Star, the Leinster Council is to carry out a feasibility study into building a 25,000-capacity stadium on a greenfield site at a cost of EUR100 million on the west side of the city.

With nearby provincial grounds such as Pairc Tailteann in Navan and St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge badly in need of upgrade work, the provincial body believes investing in a new stadium, which could act as a home ground for Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Louth and possibly Westmeath and Wicklow, may be a better option in the long run.

"We are aware of the situation in the north of the province," Leinster Council chairman Martin Skelly said.

"There are a number of grounds that would not be up to scratch under health and safety requirements and cannot meet the needs of paying customers in a modern-day context."

The Leinster Council's plan is certain to raise eyebrows, particularly in the current economic climate. A similar proposal by former GAA president Nickey Brennan to construct a multi-purpose stadium in Abbotstown, West Dublin was shot down in 2007.

also mentioned on Newstalk;

The Star newspaper are reporting that the GAA are interested in building a new 25 thousand seater stadium from scratch just off the M50.

The Leinster council are studying the feasibility of such a stadium as they believe many of it’s current grounds are not fit for big Championship games.

It’s understood Kildare, Meath, Wicklow and Louth would all be allowed use the stadium for games that their own county grounds would not be capable of hosting.


Can't see the logic behind this at all really, sure the Dubs can use either Parnell Park or Croker as a home venue, Louth are believed to be looking into building their own stadium in Dundalk, and to be fair to Westmeath and Wicklow they'd hardly bring a bigger crowd to championship matches that they can't accommodate already.

That leaves us and Meath. How exactly a stadium in Dublin could be seen as a home venue for either of us is lost on me.

Fair enough Conleths' and Pairc Tailteann aren't in the best of states at the moment but there's hardly the need to spend 100 million on a new stadium. Even more strange is a venue that both Westmeath and Wicklow could call home.

Look at the redevelopment of O'Connor Park in Tullamore, a new stand that holds about 7,000, and terracing on two sides, including extra changing rooms and a tv studio. All came at a cost of under 10 million.

Surely if there's 100 million out there that can be spent on stadiums it'd be better to spread some of it around a few counties? Let ourselves and Meath and the likes redevelop and improve on what we have for a fraction of the cost of a new stadium.

Exactly why can't they hust give the money to The counties to redevelop their own grounds. A hundred million would go a long way !!

Some genius reckons it makes sense to drag Kildare/Meath/Louth/Wicklow and Westmeath up to Dublin for "home games". Doesnt make sense to me.



Better to spread the money around and redevelop in these cheaper times if they even have that kind of money.



Portlaoise and Tullamore can service most of the bigger games the province would have including Dublin in Leinster as they dont travel.

http://www.kennylyons.ie/projects-page49452.html

Found this about the O'Connor Park development, been in it a few times and it's a really good venue, nice stand, plenty of toilets, a shop, and a hospitality area serving hot food and drinks.

Why not have a few of these around the province instead of one bigger stadium in Dublin?

Ourselves and Meath realistically would be able to cope with a 15,000 seater stadium, anything bigger could easily be moved to Portlaois or Tullamore to accommodate a bigger championship crowd.

100 million Euro... that's 200 years worth of Hawk-eye costs covered...

absolutely ridiculous idea, with all the grounds at the moment that rarely sell out and are only reasonably full a few times a year, parnell park is rarely if ever sold out, it would be a waste of money that should be ploughed into the grass roots and promoting our games or upgrading grounds like newbridge that need it badly, lunacy if you ask me.

They couldnt even finish croke park when they were doing it.

Crazy idea.

Another report on Hoganstand states Pairc Tailteann has now reduced it's capacity permenently to 10,000 on Health and Safety Grounds. No more standing on the grassy banks....


So you've had a population explosion in Meath, Kildare, Wicklow but let's consider another stadium in Dublin.... Solves all our problems!!!!! Bet they regret missing out on getting into the stadium in Tallaght now.....

Our home games should always be played in NEWBRIDGE! No where else. All that needs to be done is for the ground to be upgraded. Newbridge is the home of kildare gaa, not some staduim in dublin. They can keep their idea!

Build it in Kildare and let Wicklow, Meath and Carlow pay us if they need to use it

Is it April the 1st, when you read "home games" in Dublin you must immediately think that these things are thought up after a massive Cocaine party in the bowels of the Hogan.

As has been said just spread the money out and let county boards upgrade their own stadiums.
Sure we have a tract of land just waiting to be built on. Give us 10-15 million and you'll get a nice 20,000 capacity modern stadium just of the M7.

You know it makes sense.

peile your on the ball there. if kildare could not finance it which is quite possible why not let the gaa build one around lexlip/celbridge/ maynooth area. if nothin else it may create jobs in the area and keep a few good club footballers from headin out of the country to work and play with clubs out foregin. i would like to think that the kildare co board would be wise to this and even eye up a potential greenfield site for the gaa and put a proposal to them. in the bigger picture its in their own interest.

It'd be crazy to spend money on another one for Dublin when they already have Croke Park and Parnell Park while other pitches like Newbridge could do with an upgrade. Not to mention the hassle it'd be to have to go up there all the time for matches with traffic. Why should Dublin get everything? Mad idea.

They have a greenfield site just outside of Newbridge where they were going to build the New County Grounds. It was even given to them for free if I recall. Can't ask for better than that. All it needs is the access road.

I thought the Old Connell plan was dead in the water because it was to be funded by the sale of St Conleths for residential development? Obviously not going to happen now.

€100m for a stadium in some industrial estate off the M50 is simply madness though. Surely it would make far more sense for Kildare, Meath, Louth, Wicklow and Westmeath to upgrade their existing stadia.

Newbridge for all its faults wouldn't require a huge investment to bring it up to scratch (likewise Navan). New dressing rooms and jacks are a must and the stand also needs work. We're limited enough by what we can do with the site but surely we can manage a new roof and a few thousand seats? The capacity as it is at the moment (12,000 ish?) is pretty much spot on for our needs so there isn't really much need to do anything with the terracing. If they did wish to increase the capacity though then they could move the main terrace a bit closer to the pitch and make it a steeper gradient (like the two end terraces at Wexford Park).

kickingking wrote:

I thought the Old Connell plan was dead in the water because it was to be funded by the sale of St Conleths for residential development.

I think the land is still available, but the funds are not.

From EWAN MCKENNA

Given the current economic climate, the chances are it won’t happen, and let’s all be thankful for that. However the idea mooted just a few days ago about a feasibility study into a new 25,000-capacity stadium on the west side of Dublin that could host home games for Kildare, Meath, Louth and even Westmeath and Wicklow was somehow more insulting than the projected cost. And for the record, it was said such a development would require in the region of €100m, but more of that in a moment.

Leinster Council chairman Martin Skelly was right when saying, “We are aware of the situation in the north of the province, there are a number of grounds that would not be up to scratch under health and safety requirements and cannot meet the needs of paying customers in a modern-day context”. However, unusually for one of the more progressive GAA politicians, he identified the problem and then went in the opposite direction from the obvious solution. By telling teams to play their home games in a neighbouring county, he broke one of the major rules that makes Gaelic games great. Identity is key and borders matter more than they ever should when it comes to sport.

It may seem an odd time for a history lesson, but clearly one is needed. In 1210 the visit of King John to Ireland set the ball rolling for the most nationalistic of associations. So his administration might get a better handle on the island, Dublin, Louth, Waterford, Cork, Limerick and Kerry were declared counties while Meath, Kilkenny, Wexford, Carlow, Kildare and Ulster were considered liberties. An enemy of Robin Hood, and a man by the BBC’s judgement who was the 13th century’s worst Briton, had created the building blocks for the GAA, generations before it was created. (Not a fact too often brought up after the blessing of the gravy takes place at Congress lunch.)

But in a sport where rivalry could be considered the most important aspect, telling counties that their home is now in the territory of a great rival is demeaning from both a perspective of pride, and of course for economic reasons when hundreds of thousands of euro spent on match days are not helping the local community. Add in the fact that the clubs in these counties will still be expected to consider themselves fortunate to play in a falling-down relic come county-final day compounds the lack of foresight in the proposal.

It’s true that statisticians and economists see the likes of Kildare and Meath as little more than a commuter belt and a place to more cheaply sleep for those working in the capital. But the GAA shouldn't see it that way, especially because they are two of the best-supported teams in the country. Therefore would it not be wise to use the money to let them develop St Conleth’s Park and Pàirc Tailteann, in terms of quality rather than quality, especially when the GAA needs to be attracting supporters with decent grounds rather than adding a few more rows of concrete that will never be filled?

The average crowd at Leinster Championship matches this year was 17,000, and it’s that which should be bothering the provincial council more than stadia, especially when you consider that there are already seven grounds in the province capable of holding such crowds and the likes of Tullamore and Portlaoise are among the better places to watch any sport on this island. But if the powers that be believe a way to improve supporter numbers is to improve venues, then the solution is in front of them. If the counties mentioned by the Leinster Council and Skelly have facilities not fit for purpose, split the €100m between them and believe it or not, such a figure should create five facilities plenty big and that people should want to go to for games.

Look at value for money here because €100m is one of those incomprehensible figures until you see what can be done with it. In Turin, Juventus are close to completing a new state-of-the-art facility that holds 41,000 at a cost of €105m. In Barcelona, Espanyol built the 40,500, all-seated Estadi Cornellà-El Prat that was named as Venue of the Year at the Stadium Business Awards last year for just €60m. And if European prices do tend to be cheaper, a look closer to home reveals a similar trend and shows us how the GAA are wasting their money.

They may have had €13m more than the GAA, but for that Cardiff City built a new 27,000-seater stadium, the new Cardiff International Sports Stadium, a 470,000sq ft retail development, a new road system and a brand new 70-room hotel. These are the types of developments the GAA should be looking at. In fact down the road from Cardiff, is the 20,000-capacity, all-seated and covered Liberty Stadium, now a Premier League ground. Consider the money they spent, and you realise the GAA could furnish Meath, Kildare and Louth with similar, brand-new stadia for their €100m. It's just another reason why the Leinster Council’s idea is simply ludicrous.

Right now, they have the money to give three of the countries more populated counties facilities befitting of modern-day sport. It's a great shame that instead of this, the best they can come up with is to take away their dignity.

Great article. Hope it doesn't go ahead.