€2m taxpayer funds for GAA facilities

Yurt2

andekwarhola wrote: »

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Tallaght Stadium for example, is a public stadium with soccer team as anchor tenants but it has hosted rugby, junior GAA and American football events before.

Hilariously, the GAA were spitting fire at the time that Tallaght stadium wasn't built to the specifications of the local GAA club (I think they may have even taken a court case).

I remember that one well. It was the end for me listening to the GAA on these matters and their precious rule book.

andekwarhola

Yurt! wrote: »

Hilariously, the GAA were spitting fire at the time that Tallaght stadium wasn't built to the specifications of the local GAA club (I think they may have even taken a court case).

I remember that one well. It was the end for me listening to the GAA on these matters and their precious rule book.

Thomas Davis CLG took the case and lost.

Like you say, the issue was never that it wasn't open to other codes as it is. They wanted it redesigned to accommodate senior GAA pitch which, given the restraints of the site, would have rendered the stadium pretty much useless in terms of capacity.

TD knew this and actually were caught in leaked emails admitting that it was a tactical move to oppose soccer getting a foothold in the area.

So now, both codes are still and always will be huge in Tallaght; Tallaght stadium is a great facility that brings in huge footfall, business and benefit to the community; hosts other sports as well as soccer including junior GAA while TD CLG pissed away hundreds of thousands of euro on a spiteful case that could have been used for the grassroots game in the area.

seamus

tayto lover wrote: »

Every sporting organization promotes their own sport ahead of other sports.
It’s the natural thing to do.

To be fair, I'd imagine they went "easier" on US sports on two counts;
1. Boxing or American Football were never competing for GAA players like soccer and rugby do

2. It was likely felt that it was an insult to the dead of Bloody Sunday to allow British sports in Croke Park.

ChippingSodbury wrote: »

In our area, the local LOI team run an academy. They get U13s to sign a contract (for no gain) that precludes them from playing with other sporting teams, big games coming up or not.

I'd love to know what moron came up with that unenforceable rubbish.

kippy

seamus wrote: »

To be fair, I'd imagine they went "easier" on US sports on two counts;
1. Boxing or American Football were never competing for GAA players like soccer and rugby do

2. It was likely felt that it was an insult to the dead of Bloody Sunday to allow British sports in Croke Park.

I'd love to know what moron came up with that unenforceable rubbish.

It's more common than you'd think.
It's also common enough for parents to pay a few hundred euro for their kids to join these "academys" on top of the regulary membership fee.
No more than a money maker for the clubs involved.

andekwarhola

kippy wrote: »

It's more common than you'd think.
It's also common enough for parents to pay a few hundred euro for their kids to join these "academys" on top of the regulary membership fee.
No more than a money maker for the clubs involved.

Sounds like they've signed up to the national FAI schoolboy league, which is 13s, 15s, 17s and 19s

It's for the most talented kids that might have a chance of making it in the game and only the league of ireland clubs field teams in there. It's a national league so there's travel and the kids would be doing a lot of training so it's understandsble they'd want kids not committed to other sports even in terms of injury.

No kid has to sign up for national league, there's still u13 onward leagues in DDSL etc for them to continue playing.

Would assume a kid playing at the highest level of GAA or Rugby or doing any sport at that level going into 13s/14s would probably be concentrating hard on one sport by that age too.

BrianBoru00

seamus wrote: »

To be fair, I'd imagine they went "easier" on US sports on two counts;
1. Boxing or American Football were never competing for GAA players like soccer and rugby do

2. It was likely felt that it was an insult to the dead of Bloody Sunday to allow British sports in Croke Park.

I'd love to know what moron came up with that unenforceable rubbish.

It's not unenforceable. -You are dropped if you play GAA.

As it happens I thoroughly disagree with the white elephant in Bekan.
I never have. I think the €10m that has / will be spent would have been far better being divided in 5 and given to the respective county boards in the province for their own centres.

The issue is that we have far too many people in positions of power making decisions - which is the case here. This is what in general makes the GAA look bad when these click bait stories appear.

blue note

Yurt! wrote: »

I'm of the opinion that not a penny of taxpayers money should go into GAA grounds as long as local clubs are unable to rent / share the facilities to any other minority code as they see fit by the GAA politburo.

The EU Commission took a dim view of the goings on down in Cork with PuC getting loadzadosh from taxpayers for the vanity Ceaușescu bowl that sits empty all year and other sports can't make use of it.

Pairc ui caoimh was a disgrace. I remember the EU questions on it and I couldn't understand how they'd answer them. It doesn't see anything like enough games to excuse it being built, unless you take games away from thurles, the gaelic grounds and croke park which would be an inconvenience to basically all fans and teams.

I don't disagree with gaa getting funding for gaa only infrastructure. But I strongly disagree with it if its not justifiable. And the only justification for PuiC was corks inferiority complex. They're the second biggest city and therefore should have a massive, expensive (state of the art not important) stadium. Even though GAA is an all Ireland association and Belfast is actually the second biggest city.

Dravokivich

seamus wrote: »

Whatever about the GAA being something of a black box money goes into. When you see the FAI taking millions of euro in and its board feasting on huge salaries, bonusses and lavish benefits while clubs and players struggle to get even the most basic facilities and rely on community handouts, you really start to appreciate the effort it must take to keep the GAA on track and not a massively corrupt cesspit.

We should disband the FAI and hand over complete control of Irish soccer to the GAA.

We'd be back with a world class soccer team inside of a decade.

Not really. GAA's sponsors have been questioning their use of funds. Just because the FAI buggered things up, doesn't mean GAA haven't also.

andekwarhola

Any particular reason why an IFA/FAI thread just got nuked (and apparently not moved that I can see) while this is still running?

Is it all sports threads not allowed or just ones that a particular mod might dislike?

kippy

Dravokivich wrote: »

Not really. GAA's sponsors have been questioning their use of funds. Just because the FAI buggered things up, doesn't mean GAA haven't also.

You really think the IRFU and GAA have "buggered things up" more or even close to the level of the FAI, with all of the evidence you have seen?

There's a big difference in queries by sponsors to individual, volunteer, county boards and absolute shenanigans that have been going on at the FAI for the past decade or more.

andekwarhola

kippy wrote: »

You really think the IRFU and GAA have "buggered things up" more or even close to the level of the FAI?

Constantly using the yardstick of not being as bad as the FAI isn't exactly the most watertight method of offering a critical analysis of any sporting organisation.

kippy

andekwarhola wrote: »

Constantly using the yardstick of not being as bad as the FAI isn't exactly the most watertight method of offering a critical analysis of any sporting organisation.

I could have worded that better - hopefully my edit might clear it up a bit.

paul71

BarryD2 wrote: »

I suppose that's the case until proved otherwise but I would keep a skeptical eye. There are open rumblings at times about remuneration for bainisteoirí, expenses and inducements and so on. I somehow doubt that all is squeaky clean.

All public monies granted for these type of facilities should have conditions attached as regards more open community use.

Super Idea, I am off down to the local cricket club to organise a show jumping event.

kippy

Insurance becomes a major issue when it comes down to attaching "community" use to facilities, along with all the other issues you run into.