Meath Forum

Pairc Tailteann

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Replying To Crinigan:  "No more tongue in cheek than idea of redeveloping Pairc Tailteann from magic money trees and selling tickets for house draws."
Magic money trees? Well some of those trees must be real enough if they have bore fruit worth over €8 million already

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3744 - 16/06/2022 13:24:42    2425379

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "In fairness Tullamore was a Celtic Tiger project when the money was flowing, while their local TD was Minister for Finance and then Taoiseach. Tullamore Hospital got lots of funding at the same time, by sheer coincidence of course....

Regarding all these proposals for "cheap" upgrades, asking "it can't cost that much can it?". The answer is always, always yes, it will cost that and more. Construction costs were already rocketing before the pandemic, and they've only gotten worse since then on a worldwide scale."
Agreed, although Tullamore is a fine template, a lovely ground indeed. Realistically the existing stand is now going to be in place another 4-5 years and the only work I would do to it is spruce up the toilets, at 70 odd years old spending big on patching it up is a waste of time, it would be ideal if all or part of the existing terrace could be converted to seating and covered with new toilets and other facilities at the rear to give an alternative to the ass numbing timber on the existing stand

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3744 - 16/06/2022 13:29:59    2425382

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I always though the plan for Pairc Tailteann lost the run of itself. Knocking a perfectly good terrace first and leaving the old stand up until the second phase, just didn't make sense to me. Meath Co Council got involved and wanted retail units and on street parking put in on the road at the back of the current terrace. Stands with glued timber beams instead of steel. It was like a Christmas list.
All anyone wants is a new stand where the current one is with proper dressingroom facilities, the grass banks removed and small concrete terraces there, new toilet facilities on the terrace side and some floodlighting. Won't be cheap but a fraction of the cost of what was proposed.
I saw someone here on about building a stand on on the far side of the pitch in Ashbourne. Have you been there recently, its all houses behind there and not much room left at the side of the pitch.

Roger (Meath) - Posts: 479 - 17/06/2022 10:52:36    2425572

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Replying To Roger:  "I always though the plan for Pairc Tailteann lost the run of itself. Knocking a perfectly good terrace first and leaving the old stand up until the second phase, just didn't make sense to me. Meath Co Council got involved and wanted retail units and on street parking put in on the road at the back of the current terrace. Stands with glued timber beams instead of steel. It was like a Christmas list.
All anyone wants is a new stand where the current one is with proper dressingroom facilities, the grass banks removed and small concrete terraces there, new toilet facilities on the terrace side and some floodlighting. Won't be cheap but a fraction of the cost of what was proposed.
I saw someone here on about building a stand on on the far side of the pitch in Ashbourne. Have you been there recently, its all houses behind there and not much room left at the side of the pitch."
I agree entirely with this post and will even go further by stating once again that the current concrete terrace is the only section of Pairc Tailteann that meets current standards and should be left alone. I am afraid also that our development committee got too many big notions for their own good and completely misread their fundraising capabilities.

MillerX (Meath) - Posts: 1080 - 17/06/2022 15:58:46    2425648

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Just bringing this back to life with the news that St Conleth's Park in Newbridge is shutting, ironically after we play them, at the end of this month for 18-months for a €17.5m upgrade.
A new stand, pitch upgrading, floodlights and a new concourse leading to the ground. The stand has four dressingrooms, a retail unit and a corporate section. The stand is small as they are tight for space, just 3,000 - bringing total capacity to 15,000.
I know we have spent close on €500,000 on our current plans but there is no point throwing good money after bad. It'll be a bitter pill to swallow but you live and learn.

Roger (Meath) - Posts: 479 - 03/03/2023 15:44:13    2461631

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Replying To Roger:  "Just bringing this back to life with the news that St Conleth's Park in Newbridge is shutting, ironically after we play them, at the end of this month for 18-months for a €17.5m upgrade.
A new stand, pitch upgrading, floodlights and a new concourse leading to the ground. The stand has four dressingrooms, a retail unit and a corporate section. The stand is small as they are tight for space, just 3,000 - bringing total capacity to 15,000.
I know we have spent close on €500,000 on our current plans but there is no point throwing good money after bad. It'll be a bitter pill to swallow but you live and learn."
Does anyone know what the latest is as regards redevelopment of Pairc Tailteann?

Odyssey1 (Meath) - Posts: 8 - 03/03/2023 17:53:11    2461662

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Replying To Roger:  "Just bringing this back to life with the news that St Conleth's Park in Newbridge is shutting, ironically after we play them, at the end of this month for 18-months for a €17.5m upgrade.
A new stand, pitch upgrading, floodlights and a new concourse leading to the ground. The stand has four dressingrooms, a retail unit and a corporate section. The stand is small as they are tight for space, just 3,000 - bringing total capacity to 15,000.
I know we have spent close on €500,000 on our current plans but there is no point throwing good money after bad. It'll be a bitter pill to swallow but you live and learn."
We need to do something and quickly, the toilets behind the terrace last Sunday were a disgrace, the lights weren't even on!! I can't see the full plan being implemented, two stands as planned on either side and two terraces at either end would be sufficient, but for now could someome at least paint the toilets, have the lights working and install a few electric had dryers so there is some decency to the place.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3744 - 05/03/2023 21:33:18    2462154

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the last official word I heard from a CO board meeting was that construction costs has gone up, so everything was being put on hold.

We must just use different builders than Louth or Kildare......

Theres a lot of money already raised for this. The NYC fundraiser & grands in. Whats happening with that money? Surely they could be proceeding in phases?

Its soul destroying going back into it in its current state year after year.

It is genuinley putting kids off going to games because the basic facilities are so bad.

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6347 - 06/03/2023 09:37:31    2462184

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Replying To Richieq:  "We need to do something and quickly, the toilets behind the terrace last Sunday were a disgrace, the lights weren't even on!! I can't see the full plan being implemented, two stands as planned on either side and two terraces at either end would be sufficient, but for now could someome at least paint the toilets, have the lights working and install a few electric had dryers so there is some decency to the place."
I have consistently said on here from day 1, the plans were too ambitious, satisfying an architects ego who wanted a shrine to their name. The committee were misled and very naive and the running of the house draw gave an indication of how ill equipped that committee were to take on the project.
The plans for four stands were never a runner. I have said from day 1 if we can manage to demolish the old stand and build a new one like Tullamore or Portlaoise, upgrade facilities on the existing terrace and make safe the grass banks we will be doing very well. The biggest disgrace is the €600,000 spent on the design to date. It is an appalling waste of money and the value of the design works to date is nowhere near that figure. That should be investigated and we should be entitled to get a lot of it back.

Meathball (Meath) - Posts: 140 - 06/03/2023 09:43:19    2462186

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Its very disappointing to see no tangible progress after many years, whilst other counties can plan, sort out the red tape, hire the right people and get onto bricks and mortar within a few years.

This has to be a big, big, big project going forward. Optics are everything. Meath is the seventh highest population (or 8th, im unsure) of any county in Ireland. In another 10/20 years there will be over a quarter of a million people in the county. The only counties which are more dense population-wise include Dublin, Kildare, Cork, Antrim, Down; the urban heartlands of the country. Meath is also a very rich county. Navan town itself will be among the largest and most residential in Ireland by the middle of the century and the population will be potentially 40/50,000. Yet it looks like the GAA community will still be working out of a farcically outdated mid 20th century stadium, that actually has to be close to failing modern H&S standards. Id say the terrace is passable, but in the stand - the stairs, toilets, seating plan, and car parking setup are very poor and potentially hazardous. The speaker system, floodlights, grass banks, traders selling products from fold up tables etc... In 2023 this is a stadium that was fit for purpose maybe 30/40 years ago. Its up there with the very worst in the country. I always find it a bit embarrassing attending games there. Its decline and the lack of vision for its development over many years is symptomatic of the greater lack of vision and development in Meath GAA. It's all linked.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 06/03/2023 13:03:37    2462258

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Really really disappointing that we seem to be stuck with current PT conditions for some time to come
How the current county board are not making this their number one priority is amazing
Unfortunately I cannot see this changing until someone with forward thinking and vision takes the hot seat

Awaywin (Meath) - Posts: 116 - 06/03/2023 19:56:03    2462427

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There was an awful job trying to get in and out of the Jacks in the stand last Saturday, seen a few lads with wet shoes coming out and the squeeze to get to the urinal was intense to say the least, the biggest issue though is mobility within the stand, I'm tired of seeing elderly people in particulsr struggle to negotiate the steps and get in and out of seats, my own father after two hip replacements and a selection of back surgeries literally crawled into his seat and crawled out until he got his hand on a rail, I'm surprised the thing hasn't been completely shut down by now beimg honest. I heard Fergal Lynch say when asked on a pod after the game that he has heard that when work can start it will now start on the stand side instead of the terrace and I'm now firmly in this camp despite having reservations before over having no seats or cover for a period of time. Build a 7000 seater stand as planned on the stand side and we will go from there, its beyond embarrassing as it is.

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3744 - 22/03/2023 16:48:03    2465873

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Replying To Richieq:  "There was an awful job trying to get in and out of the Jacks in the stand last Saturday, seen a few lads with wet shoes coming out and the squeeze to get to the urinal was intense to say the least, the biggest issue though is mobility within the stand, I'm tired of seeing elderly people in particulsr struggle to negotiate the steps and get in and out of seats, my own father after two hip replacements and a selection of back surgeries literally crawled into his seat and crawled out until he got his hand on a rail, I'm surprised the thing hasn't been completely shut down by now beimg honest. I heard Fergal Lynch say when asked on a pod after the game that he has heard that when work can start it will now start on the stand side instead of the terrace and I'm now firmly in this camp despite having reservations before over having no seats or cover for a period of time. Build a 7000 seater stand as planned on the stand side and we will go from there, its beyond embarrassing as it is."
Yeah the County Board should give some indication as to what the plan is and an admittance that they got the whole redevelopment proposals very wrong. We all know the only practical, safe, viable, best and affordable option Is to knock the existing stand and replace it with a new 7000 seater stand. And one thing the County Board cannot be allowed to do under any circumstances, is allowed to go wasting any more money on design, on top of the €700,000 they already over spent on a design that had never a snowballs chance of ever coming to fruition. There were no detail design drawings (that even if it was to overcome all the very apparent basic design failings) that a contractor could have built from, yet we paid out €700,000.
It is so annoying to see how we wasted so much money and feck all seem to be anyway bothered.

Meathball (Meath) - Posts: 140 - 25/03/2023 15:01:29    2466482

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Replying To Richieq:  "There was an awful job trying to get in and out of the Jacks in the stand last Saturday, seen a few lads with wet shoes coming out and the squeeze to get to the urinal was intense to say the least, the biggest issue though is mobility within the stand, I'm tired of seeing elderly people in particulsr struggle to negotiate the steps and get in and out of seats, my own father after two hip replacements and a selection of back surgeries literally crawled into his seat and crawled out until he got his hand on a rail, I'm surprised the thing hasn't been completely shut down by now beimg honest. I heard Fergal Lynch say when asked on a pod after the game that he has heard that when work can start it will now start on the stand side instead of the terrace and I'm now firmly in this camp despite having reservations before over having no seats or cover for a period of time. Build a 7000 seater stand as planned on the stand side and we will go from there, its beyond embarrassing as it is."
Totally agree. It's actually getting to the stage where it should be condemned

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 25/03/2023 16:13:38    2466518

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Replying To royaldunne:  "Totally agree. It's actually getting to the stage where it should be condemned"
Sell Pairc Tailteann and build a small purpose built stadium in Dunganny. Good traffic infrastructure. Maybe Tesco or similar would buy for decent money. Only an idea.

TownJohnT (Meath) - Posts: 86 - 25/03/2023 18:46:36    2466554

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In the GAA what's the funding model for building county grounds?. When the likes of Pearse stadium in Galway was redeveloped what percentage did Galway GAA actually pay, how much came from central GAA funds/ Government funds and how much from the local county board?.
The reason I ask is I'm wondering is the main reason we can't get a decent stadium down to the GAA or failings from our county board.

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1402 - 25/03/2023 19:08:37    2466558

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Replying To bdbuddah:  "In the GAA what's the funding model for building county grounds?. When the likes of Pearse stadium in Galway was redeveloped what percentage did Galway GAA actually pay, how much came from central GAA funds/ Government funds and how much from the local county board?.
The reason I ask is I'm wondering is the main reason we can't get a decent stadium down to the GAA or failings from our county board."
6 of one half dozen of the other.
Very disappointing. Met a dub in toilet last week said last time he was here was 30 years ago and they done nothing with it since.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 26/03/2023 10:43:13    2466616

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Replying To TownJohnT:  "Sell Pairc Tailteann and build a small purpose built stadium in Dunganny. Good traffic infrastructure. Maybe Tesco or similar would buy for decent money. Only an idea."
If money was no option, I'd agree with you, not necessarily to build in Dunganny but start again with a greenfield site. Id actually consider having the venue somewhere other than Navan too. The traffic management of the town is hectic on a good day and its a frustrating place to drive in and park. Why not in one of the many other towns of note in the county? The amount of zoned, prestige land around Dunshaughlin is staggering, and flat as a pancake too. Just food for thought.

Young_gael (Meath) - Posts: 596 - 26/03/2023 16:53:00    2466758

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Replying To Young_gael:  "If money was no option, I'd agree with you, not necessarily to build in Dunganny but start again with a greenfield site. Id actually consider having the venue somewhere other than Navan too. The traffic management of the town is hectic on a good day and its a frustrating place to drive in and park. Why not in one of the many other towns of note in the county? The amount of zoned, prestige land around Dunshaughlin is staggering, and flat as a pancake too. Just food for thought."
A lot of road works going on in the town so there will be traffic jams until finished. I have seen no problem with parking over a number of years. You would require a lot of zoned land to house 8k and then build a full size pitch-buying zoned land will would be very expensive. Now traffic management may be a problem but I assume that should be dealt with our Garda.

The location in the middle of the county is best suited for the majority with a motorway within 4 minutes.
On the PT issue there was never a need to design a vanity project with stands to be built all around (CP does not have such).
All was needed was to toss the existing stand and rebuild, do away with the dangerous concrete seating on the side of the pitch, leave the terrace and do up the long over due works on the dressing rooms/toilets. Not sure how any H&S guy can determine a grass bank at both ends is more dangerous than concrete- is the guy who done so living on the moon!

On another point if we got our fair share of money -even 50% of what the Dubs have been getting that would help us dealing with the toilets - no offence to the Dubs intended.

browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 26/03/2023 19:58:54    2466882

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It's a good job some of ye don't work in planning.

Ye reckon Navan has unbearable traffic conditions for the 5 games a year that get a big crowd, but building an enormous car park in Dunganny so that thousands of cars can try cram their way one by one onto a busy 100km/h single carriageway is somehow a good idea?

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1668 - 27/03/2023 10:15:51    2466986

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