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A new stadium in Connacht?

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What the devil is going on with this thread? I've been travelling for the last few days and have just checked in, and all I can say is shame on you all for acting like a bunch of kids; whether you're from Galway or Limerick, this is pathetic stuff, it's utter tripe that's been written here and beyond parody. I've lived in both places, and they've both great towns with nothing between them.

Given the topic of this thread is to discuss the pros and cons of a Connacht stadium, I'm not even sure why the adim has allowed lads to come on here spewing nonsense about violence in Limerick, or claptrap about the benefits of Polish cops in Galway. Listen to yourselves, FFS. I'm embarrassed for all of ye.

Shut this nonsense down admin.

festinog (Galway) - Posts: 3097 - 24/07/2019 07:02:45    2215565

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There won't be any new stadium in Connacht. The problem within Connacht is they couldn't agree on a stadium. The Provincial Council secretary isn't going to allow that especially when the plans for the indoor pitch at Bekan are being put first & foremost. Some lads think that the provincial offices & everything would be based in a new pitch in Galway, ye have a lot to learn about provincial politics if you think that is going to happen. Mc Hale park was redeveloped at a massive cost & has massive debt, Hyde Park similarly, Mac Diarmada Park & Markiviecz park also got upgrades & Pearse stadium still has debt to be cleared years on. All these debts are still outstanding, as for selling Pearse Stadium & getting millions from a developer, you obviously know nothing of the building game in Galway, nobody would touch it. It's unlikely to get zoning for planning either from its current status. The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it. The big cock up for Pearse stadium was the flood lighting planning application farce & then the lack of consultation & proper traffic management plan for match days that disillusioned many, also the original long term ticket sales after the redevelopment went very well, but they never lived up to the commitments especially around club use & when they launched the second long term ticket sale it flopped.
So there will be no new stadium in Connacht other than the new indoor pitch at Bekan.

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 24/07/2019 07:44:49    2215578

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Replying To GreenandRed:  "Galway and Limerick are both fine cities. Like any city you'll find trouble if you want it and look hard enough for it but the massive majority in both are friendly helpful people. There's no need for a new GAA stadium in Connacht, already 5 decent county grounds. I've read some Galway posters here not fond of Tuam but for me it's the spiritual home of Connacht football. If Galway GAA were ever to sell Salthill I'd love to see them revamp Tuam. But it seems that might not be feasible?"
Although it is vital the GAA improve their presence in Galway City like they have massively invested in Dublin the notion of Tuam is very sensible. In fairness with the motorway network very accessible for the rest of the Connacht counties (Mayo and Ros more so i accept) and the hurling heartland in south and east Galway. But the GAA often don't do sensible.

kiloughter (Galway) - Posts: 1947 - 24/07/2019 09:41:32    2215610

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Replying To moc.dna:  "There won't be any new stadium in Connacht. The problem within Connacht is they couldn't agree on a stadium. The Provincial Council secretary isn't going to allow that especially when the plans for the indoor pitch at Bekan are being put first & foremost. Some lads think that the provincial offices & everything would be based in a new pitch in Galway, ye have a lot to learn about provincial politics if you think that is going to happen. Mc Hale park was redeveloped at a massive cost & has massive debt, Hyde Park similarly, Mac Diarmada Park & Markiviecz park also got upgrades & Pearse stadium still has debt to be cleared years on. All these debts are still outstanding, as for selling Pearse Stadium & getting millions from a developer, you obviously know nothing of the building game in Galway, nobody would touch it. It's unlikely to get zoning for planning either from its current status. The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it. The big cock up for Pearse stadium was the flood lighting planning application farce & then the lack of consultation & proper traffic management plan for match days that disillusioned many, also the original long term ticket sales after the redevelopment went very well, but they never lived up to the commitments especially around club use & when they launched the second long term ticket sale it flopped.
So there will be no new stadium in Connacht other than the new indoor pitch at Bekan."
"The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it"

What was the cost total? Do you even know the number?

brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 24/07/2019 13:29:24    2215726

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So despite a spend of €16 million on a new stand and media facilities the capacity of MacHale has been cut to just over 25'000 fir the Mayo/Donegal match for health and safety reasons, pure ludicrous not only are stadia capacities changing from year to year they are now changing game to game, a farce really.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 24/07/2019 18:58:01    2215916

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Replying To Richieq:  "So despite a spend of €16 million on a new stand and media facilities the capacity of MacHale has been cut to just over 25'000 fir the Mayo/Donegal match for health and safety reasons, pure ludicrous not only are stadia capacities changing from year to year they are now changing game to game, a farce really."
I don't get it either. Two Connaught teams playing and there's no problem filling it to capacity. Bring in a team from outside the province and that changes. Why? Because they may not know their way around the stadium/town? I'm afraind the H&S people have got the GAA by the balls and someone needs to say ENOUGH!

Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 24/07/2019 19:39:14    2215931

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Replying To Sindar:  "I don't get it either. Two Connaught teams playing and there's no problem filling it to capacity. Bring in a team from outside the province and that changes. Why? Because they may not know their way around the stadium/town? I'm afraind the H&S people have got the GAA by the balls and someone needs to say ENOUGH!"
So what's your alternative? An incident to occur. Health and safety officials base their decisions based on potential and perceived risk.
There can be changes all the time based on game to game especially when you look at the state of many county GAA grounds

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 3511 - 24/07/2019 21:20:22    2215992

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Replying To KillingFields:  "So what's your alternative? An incident to occur. Health and safety officials base their decisions based on potential and perceived risk.
There can be changes all the time based on game to game especially when you look at the state of many county GAA grounds"
So, what is the safe capacity?
Was it safe previously when there were 6000 more in it? There are serious implications IF it was the case that an extra 6000 make it unsafe.
6000 is a huge number and far too big a variable to have changed just depending on what team is playing. A proper totally transparent explanation needs to be given.

Mayfair (Galway) - Posts: 65 - 24/07/2019 23:50:04    2216073

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Replying To KillingFields:  "So what's your alternative? An incident to occur. Health and safety officials base their decisions based on potential and perceived risk.
There can be changes all the time based on game to game especially when you look at the state of many county GAA grounds"
This is why Connacht needs a new modern stadium

brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 25/07/2019 02:24:01    2216103

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Replying To brisbane:  ""The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it"

What was the cost total? Do you even know the number?"
I do know the original redevelopment figure & I had a number of tickets in the original long term ticket sales to support it. You are proposing selling Pearse Stadium & redeveloping elsewhere, are you aware of the debt that the County Board have & that from the last published accounts, they were just paying interest only. Are you aware that the Connacht Provincial Council have earmarked all funding towards a new indoor arena & that Croke Park cannot extend funding to a number of other developments because of PUC & lack of State funding because of the overrun in the children's hospital mess. So who your going to get to stump up the millions needed for your idea is another guess. Mc Hale Park is heavily in debt following a recent €16 Million redevelopment, do you think if it was sold in the morning, a developer would give €16 Million for it, same with Pearse Stadium. You are throwing out things there without even knowing the reality of the situation.

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 25/07/2019 08:40:03    2216127

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Replying To brisbane:  "This is why Connacht needs a new modern stadium"
Fair play Brisbane, you must be a wealthy man. Harsh economic reality doesn't seem such a big factor in your thinking.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7360 - 25/07/2019 09:54:44    2216147

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Replying To KillingFields:  "So what's your alternative? An incident to occur. Health and safety officials base their decisions based on potential and perceived risk.
There can be changes all the time based on game to game especially when you look at the state of many county GAA grounds"
Can you tell me the last time there was an "incident " in an inter county ground on such a scale that it warranted a reduction of 6,000 people in the capacity of the ground ? Bear in mind there are no terraces in McHale Park. This is yet another example of an irrational, omnipotent state body that is answerable to no one .

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6031 - 25/07/2019 10:01:12    2216150

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Replying To moc.dna:  "I do know the original redevelopment figure & I had a number of tickets in the original long term ticket sales to support it. You are proposing selling Pearse Stadium & redeveloping elsewhere, are you aware of the debt that the County Board have & that from the last published accounts, they were just paying interest only. Are you aware that the Connacht Provincial Council have earmarked all funding towards a new indoor arena & that Croke Park cannot extend funding to a number of other developments because of PUC & lack of State funding because of the overrun in the children's hospital mess. So who your going to get to stump up the millions needed for your idea is another guess. Mc Hale Park is heavily in debt following a recent €16 Million redevelopment, do you think if it was sold in the morning, a developer would give €16 Million for it, same with Pearse Stadium. You are throwing out things there without even knowing the reality of the situation."
You said "The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it"

I asked you "What was the cost total? Do you even know the number?"

You did not give the total cost? That is all i want. What is it?

brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 25/07/2019 17:20:29    2216426

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Replying To GreenandRed:  "Fair play Brisbane, you must be a wealthy man. Harsh economic reality doesn't seem such a big factor in your thinking."
Lol you grew up in Mayo so you live in a 24/7 harsh economic reality..If the Connacht stadium was planned for castlebar or roscommon i would be delighted there would be no complaints. The new Beken indoor pitch has had no objections but if it had been planned for Galway it seems going be this thread all the mayo fans would be complaining. This reminds me of the Tony Keady affair pure begrudging from mayo, even though mayo didnt compete in the hurling all ireland you guys did everything you could to stop galway winning one.

brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 25/07/2019 17:28:26    2216431

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Replying To brisbane:  "Lol you grew up in Mayo so you live in a 24/7 harsh economic reality..If the Connacht stadium was planned for castlebar or roscommon i would be delighted there would be no complaints. The new Beken indoor pitch has had no objections but if it had been planned for Galway it seems going be this thread all the mayo fans would be complaining. This reminds me of the Tony Keady affair pure begrudging from mayo, even though mayo didnt compete in the hurling all ireland you guys did everything you could to stop galway winning one."
You make a lot of childish assumptions about Mayo people again simply because they don't agree with their opinion. I don't know everyone from Mayo but none I know were less than delighted when ye won football or hurling All Irelands, since the 80s anyway. You have no clue about money. There's no need for a Connacht GAA stadium. Once again I ask you what is the need for a new Connacht GAA stadium when there are five county grounds.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 7360 - 25/07/2019 21:07:00    2216517

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Replying To GreenandRed:  "You make a lot of childish assumptions about Mayo people again simply because they don't agree with their opinion. I don't know everyone from Mayo but none I know were less than delighted when ye won football or hurling All Irelands, since the 80s anyway. You have no clue about money. There's no need for a Connacht GAA stadium. Once again I ask you what is the need for a new Connacht GAA stadium when there are five county grounds."
Very valid point, money would be far better and sensibly spent on improving facilities in the existing grounds.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3734 - 25/07/2019 21:50:51    2216538

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Replying To GreenandRed:  "You make a lot of childish assumptions about Mayo people again simply because they don't agree with their opinion. I don't know everyone from Mayo but none I know were less than delighted when ye won football or hurling All Irelands, since the 80s anyway. You have no clue about money. There's no need for a Connacht GAA stadium. Once again I ask you what is the need for a new Connacht GAA stadium when there are five county grounds."
Ehmmm, Galway v Mayo had to be played in Limerick! And need I mention that there were some visionaries in Mayo back in the 80's. Think of a certain airport and Monsignor!

Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 25/07/2019 22:06:40    2216551

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Replying To brisbane:  "You said "The original redevelopment costs & refurbishment costs of the pitch surface at Pearse stadium would not even be covered by the sale of it"

I asked you "What was the cost total? Do you even know the number?"

You did not give the total cost? That is all i want. What is it?"
The original cost of the redevelopment in 2002 was €12 Million, also a lot of the work on some of the terraces at the time was done by a very good FAS scheme which saved a lot of money. The figures for the recent works on the pitch itself vary. What age are you, this is my last post on this as there is no point in debating with someone who doesn't have any grasp of economics, your going on about building new stadiums as if there is no problem with the millions needed & that it will all be covered by the sale of Pearse Stadium. Miraculously you are going to recover the €12 Million plus spent since the reopening in 2003, plus make enough to build a new stadium somewhere else, I think your wasting your time on here, Shane Ross should have you in as a special advisor in the Dept of Sport.

moc.dna (Galway) - Posts: 1212 - 26/07/2019 16:56:51    2216843

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Every county wants their own ground. We're tribal after all. The GAA is too decentralised (can't believe I just said that because it's usually a good thing) but that's what makes the GAA great in many ways with the rivalries between counties not to mention some of the lark that goes on between parishes! You'd swear from some of the posts on here that we were all so different with a completely different culture and education. But we all know the truth (with the exception of the Dubs of course :) )

Sindar (Roscommon) - Posts: 348 - 26/07/2019 19:24:30    2216891

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Replying To moc.dna:  "The original cost of the redevelopment in 2002 was €12 Million, also a lot of the work on some of the terraces at the time was done by a very good FAS scheme which saved a lot of money. The figures for the recent works on the pitch itself vary. What age are you, this is my last post on this as there is no point in debating with someone who doesn't have any grasp of economics, your going on about building new stadiums as if there is no problem with the millions needed & that it will all be covered by the sale of Pearse Stadium. Miraculously you are going to recover the €12 Million plus spent since the reopening in 2003, plus make enough to build a new stadium somewhere else, I think your wasting your time on here, Shane Ross should have you in as a special advisor in the Dept of Sport."
Why are you asking me personal questions ? I am happy to discuss GAA matters but discussing my personal life is a bit strange and unnerving. So please stick to GAA matters i wont be answering any of your personal questions about me.

brisbane (Galway) - Posts: 674 - 27/07/2019 11:43:27    2217040

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