GAA Infastructure

blue note · 17-06-2017 10:28PM

If cork aren't in them this will be less convenient that thurles for all counties involved.

nice_guy80 · 17-06-2017 10:31PM

was at the COE in Ferns, Wexford today for Feile

a fine facility

shmeee · 17-06-2017 11:55PM

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Did they check with the Cork County Board if the stadium will actually be ready for then ?:P

I was told by someone involved below that they will be hard pushed to have it ready for any match this year.

The All Ireland 1/4 finals may be moved yet.

Boom__Boom · 04-07-2017 12:03PM

Cherry on top for this project.

Páirc Uí Chaoimh may not be ready for All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals
Keys to be handed over on Friday but CCCC will meet next week for final decision

about 12 hours ago
Seán Moran

There is still a question mark over whether Cork’s redeveloped Páirc Uí Chaoimh will host the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals in two weeks’ time. A meeting next Monday, July 10th, will make the final decision on the matter.
The venue has already had to defer its official opening, which it had been hoped would coincide with the Munster football or hurling finals, but a combination of technological issues and the failure to finalise security protocols in time forced the postponement of the official opening.
At June’s meeting of the GAA Central Council, the idea of staging the All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals in Cork was discussed. According to Feargal McGill, the GAA’s head of games administration, the decision taken was to “ask the CCCC [Central Competitions Control Committee] to consider Páirc Uí Chaoimh” as a venue for those matches.
The committee will wait until next weekend’s matches in both the qualifiers and the Munster final have taken place before finalising the details. McGill added that the Cork venue, “will not be opened unless it’s completely ready”.
At the time of the June postponement county chair Ger Lane said that the work on the project would be completed by the middle of this month.

Disappointed
“Clearly we are disappointed but we want everything to be pristine before the stadium hosts its first major games. We want to be certain that all the expectations for this tremendous new facility will be fully met and we are satisfied that this will be the case by mid-July,” he said.
Cork remain confident that the revised deadline will be met. The keys to the new stadium are due to be handed over this coming Friday, July 7th, at which stage the development officially stops being a building site.

On the issue of whether the other matters have been resolved, according to one source all of those matters were “in hand” and they “weren’t aware of any further problems that would hold up the development”.

There has been considerable work done by volunteers to ensure that the ground is ready to open at the end of the month. There are long memories in the county concerning the previous official opening of the old Páirc Uí Chaoimh 41 years ago in August 1976.
On the day of that year’s Cork-Kerry Munster football final, an estimated 10,000 spectators broke into the ground after the gates had been shut with the result that the crowds ended up on the side of the pitch and behind the goals.
McGill entered a further note of caution by pointing out that the CCCC would have to take into account the four counties who qualify for the quarter-finals.
Home advantage
It had been assumed that were Cork to lose Sunday’s Munster final and become one of the quarter-finalists, other counties wouldn’t object to their having home advantage given the historic nature of the stadium opening but that has yet to be confirmed.
The new stadium does not have corporate suites as in Croke Park but it does contain a premium level of just over 2,000 seats. Roughly half of the available 10-year tickets have been either bought or sales agreed since they went on sale this spring at a cost of €6,500.
There has already been disappointment over the missing of the Munster final deadlines and were the All-Ireland quarter-finals not to take place there would be further unhappiness, as there would probably as a result be no competitive inter-county fixtures until next year, 2018.
All-Ireland semi-finals are covered by the terms of the Croke Park ticket holders and only replays have been played outside of the Dublin venue.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/p%C3%A1irc-u%C3%AD-chaoimh-may-not-be-ready-for-all-ireland-hurling-quarter-finals-1.3142293?utm_source=morning_digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news_digest

Poor_old_gill · 04-07-2017 12:20PM

Close down Cork GAA and start again

shmeee · 04-07-2017 12:21PM

shmeee wrote: »

I was told by someone involved below that they will be hard pushed to have it ready for any match this year.

The All Ireland 1/4 finals may be moved yet.

It was well known of the problems with PUC, they were hiding behind them for so long.

They should just come out and say they won't host a game this year and that be it. A laughing stock now to be honest.

blue note · 04-07-2017 01:53PM

The most likely quarter finalists are KK, Clare, Tipp and Wexford. And Thurles is probably the handiest venue for them anyway, so I'd say the're all glad of the change. And of the alternates, Waterford and Dublin would be glad of Thurles too. The only ones potentially going to be upset are Cork.

Bonniedog · 04-07-2017 01:58PM

Cork is worst ground in country to get to, other than maybe Letterkenny! Not only is Cork geographically far removed from most places, but the pitch itself is in terrible location. Like the middle of an industrial estate. They'd gave been better expanding and improving PUR in my humble opinion.

munchkin_utd · 04-07-2017 02:02PM

Bonniedog wrote: »

Cork is worst ground in country to get to, other than maybe Letterkenny! Not only is Cork geographically far removed from most places, but the pitch itself is in terrible location. Like the middle of an industrial estate. They'd gave been better expanding and improving PUR in my humble opinion.

em, and what about Salthill ?
I cannot imagine a worse place to plonk a large stadium and in comparison, PUC is grand to get to.

Bonniedog · 04-07-2017 02:05PM

munchkin_utd wrote: »

em, and what about Salthill ?
I cannot imagine a worse place to plonk a large stadium and in comparison, PUC is grand to get to.

I will give you that one! Last time I was there took over an hour to get out of city and it was league game with 5/6,000.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater · 04-07-2017 04:21PM

blue note wrote: »

The most likely quarter finalists are KK, Clare, Tipp and Wexford. And Thurles is probably the handiest venue for them anyway, so I'd say the're all glad of the change. And of the alternates, Waterford and Dublin would be glad of Thurles too. The only ones potentially going to be upset are Cork.

Try telling that to the Dubs, who now have to play Tipperary in their own back yard, when it should be in a neutral venue!

KrustyUCC · 04-07-2017 04:47PM

Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be ready for All-Ireland quarter-finals, says Cork chairman

http://www.eveningecho.ie/nationalsport/Pairc-Ui-Chaoimh-will-be-ready-for-All-Ireland-quarter-finals-says-Cork-chairman-23706356-8533-4ed7-a24e-123123672308-ds

Let's see if the county board follow through on their promise

Supposedly there is a possibility of the quarter finals being on seperate days if Cork lose on Sunday due to the demand that Cork alone would have

DEFTLEFTHAND · 04-07-2017 04:50PM

I suppose they want a high profile double header to launch the new stadium.

KrustyUCC · 04-07-2017 04:54PM

Cork v Kilkenny would def fill the stadium itself

zetecescort · 04-07-2017 07:39PM

I presume they need to have a club game in PUC just to see how things go on a matchday? It is the Cork county board but surely a full house will not be the first day in the new stadium. do they need to run through with a crowd beforehand to pass safety inspection?

threeball · 04-07-2017 08:16PM

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

Try telling that to the Dubs, who now have to play Tipperary in their own back yard, when it should be in a neutral venue!

Shoe is on the other foot this time. Doesn't seem to bother them when their footballers are getting the benefit.

blue note · 04-07-2017 08:34PM

threeball wrote:

Shoe is on the other foot this time. Doesn't seem to bother them when their footballers are getting the benefit.

Or the hurlers. They've played 16 championship games in croke park in the last 10 years and 8 in their opponents home county (including this coming match).

Boom__Boom · 04-07-2017 08:54PM

Got sent on a copy of an email Freemount GAA sent to all the officers of the Cork County Board.

The next county board meeting on the 11th should be great craic.

From: Secretary Freemount Cork
Sent: 01 July 2017 18:18:04
To: Chairperson Cork; ViceChairperson Cork; administrator cork; senior administrator cork; Treasurer Cork; PRO Cork; Childrensofficer Cork; DevelopmentOfficer Cork; IrishCulturalOfficer Cork; Coaching Officer Cork; chairperson imokilly.cork;

A Chara,

As you are aware, all decisions being made by the Executive and the Steering Committee in relation to Pairc Ui Chaoimh are under the jurisdiction of the County Committee. However, the County Committee has received minimal information in relation to Pairc Ui Chaoimh since the development commenced. Consequently, we would appreciate if you would respond to the queries set out below in advance of the next county board meeting and circulate it to the County Committee. If this is not possible, we will expect a verbal response to the queries at the next county board meeting.

The following are our queries in relation to Pairc Ui Chaoimh :

- Did the Steering Committee receive assurances from the main contractor and electrical contractor that Pairc Ui Chaoimh would be completed on time for the Munster football final ? If so, is there a penalty payable now for late completion and for how much? If a penalty is not payable, why not ?

- Is the Steering Committee fully satisfied that Pairc Ui Chaoimh will be ready on time for the All Ireland hurling quarter finals ?

- Has Sisk lodged any claims for contra charges due to delays outside their control ? If so, for how much ?

- Why did the Steering Committee take responsibility for appointing the electrical contractors instead of Sisk being responsible for it ?

- What is the expected cost of the overall development ? If as reported, it is significantly in excess of the amount of €78m presented to the County Committee as being the final cost, how did the additional costs arise ?

- If there have been cost overruns, why have the County Committee not been updated on these overruns over the past eighteen months.

- Is there any part of the proposed development project not being done because of financial constraints ?

- How many Premium Level Seats have been sold ?

- Is there any risk of promised grant funding not being received ?

- What is the position with the Stadium naming rights contract ?

- What is the anticipated shortfall on the development of the stadium and how will this shortfall be financed ?

- Why is the appointment of a stadium manager not on the agenda at present?

- It has been reported in the Media that Bob Ryan will be employed on a 12 month contract. Is this correct and if so, what was the process for making this appointment ? If the position was not advertised, why not ?

- How many people will be employed in Pairc Ui Chaoimh going forward and what will be the role of each employee ?

- When does the Executive take over from the Steering Committee in managing Pairc Ui Chaoimh?

- Will all income and expenditure of Pairc Ui Chaoimh be accounted for through the accounts of County Board or is it going to be through a separate entity ?

- Can the Executive confirm that those responsible for running Pairc Ui Chaoimh in the future report to the County Executive ?

- We would appreciate your confirmation that proposals in relation to the management of Pairc Ui Chaoimh will be ratified by the County Committee before they can proceed.

On a separate note, we brought forward a motion to the last annual Convention seeking that the appointment of the next county secretary should be managed by Croke Park so that an annual contribution of €30000 could be received from Croke Park towards the cost of the secretary. It was ruled out of order on the basis that this was a decision for the Management Committee and the County Committee.

Croke Park have indicated that they will need to start the process of appointing the County Secretary by the first week in September if they are requested to do so. Consequently, we consider that the process for appointing the next county secretary will now need to be ratified by the August County Board meeting at the latest.

We would therefore suggest that the proposed process for appointing the next county secretary is circulated in advance of the July or August County Board meetings to give clubs an opportunity to consider it in advance of the meeting and then agree on the process at the County Board meeting.

Mise le Meas,

Liam Ó Múrchú

Cnoc an Teampaill

CK22 · 10-07-2017 03:37AM

I assume we have heard the news. PUC opens next Sunday for a Cork SHC game between CIT and the Glen I think. Hopefully all goes well, and this fiasco comes to an end. There are also calls for the AIQF's to be held on a Saturday/Sunday, rather than have a double header, such is the expected demand for tickets from Wexford, Tipp and Waterford. Judging off todays Munster final, I dont think many Clare fans will be around. I think all of their hype has died down since Davy left.

The pitch is looking well, the goals are up, the grey seats are all fitted, the famous LED floodlights are in, the scoreboards are up, Stade de Frank, lets be havin' ya.

dboync · 10-07-2017 12:03PM

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Got sent on a copy of an email Freemount GAA sent to all the officers of the Cork County Board.

The next county board meeting on the 11th should be great craic.

The elephant in the room is why they did not let Sisk appoint the electrical contractors? Is anyone surprised that there were delays with signing off on the safety certificate? Join the dots people!

Fair play to Freemount for raising these issues. Let's see if there is progress on any of them.

Boom__Boom · 10-07-2017 03:20PM

dboync wrote: »

The elephant in the room is why they did not let Sisk appoint the electrical contractors? Is anyone surprised that there were delays with signing off on the safety certificate? Join the dots people!

Fair play to Freemount for raising these issues. Let's see if there is progress on any of them.

Until Frank and his coterie are gone there won't be any progress.

Malcolm Tucker · 10-07-2017 06:23PM

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Got sent on a copy of an email Freemount GAA sent to all the officers of the Cork County Board.

The next county board meeting on the 11th should be great craic.

I'd heard about that email, but very interesting to see it laid out in black and white.

Those are some very serious allegations and, if true, could surely have some very serious consequences for Cork GAA? There's a lot of Government money gone into the stadium. The Comptroller and Auditor General could end up looking at it if it looks like taxpayers money has been squandered.

blue note · 12-07-2017 10:48AM

Boom__Boom wrote:

Got sent on a copy of an email Freemount GAA sent to all the officers of the Cork County Board.

Boom__Boom wrote:

The next county board meeting on the 11th should be great craic.

Any word on how they dealt with those questions last night?

Boom__Boom · 12-07-2017 06:17PM

blue note wrote: »

Any word on how they dealt with those questions last night?

Ger Lane said the matter would be dealt with at the end of the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, said Freemount were a disgrace for bringing this up in what was a successful week for Cork GAA and that the board weren't beholden to anyone. The Freemount delegate tried to speak twice but Lane wouldn't let him/said contracts were a confidential matter. There was applause for Ger Lane (not 100% unanimous but still a majority of the room)

This is 3rd hand - was talking to someone who was talking to someone at the meeting - so may be not 100% but the general gist. Tinpot dictator stuff which is S.O.P for Frank and friends.

I think money is the major issue - the county board is trying to keep the hole in the finances quiet as long as possible in the hope something will turn up - someone I know is convinced that Pairc Ui Rinn will be sold for houses in the not too distant future - I have heard some other stuff about scrimping on underage teams, mentors being forced to pay for basic essentials out of their own pocket, long long delays in players getting reimbursed for expenses.

The whole Hawkeye thing where they will be a "score detection system" in place for the opening games now but it won't be Hawkeye sounds very dodge and I can't help but think it's related to the finance issue.

Some of the Cork football crowd are not pleased about the fact that the opening day of new stadium the Cork footballers are playing away in Limerick, saying that there's no way the County Board would have let it pass with the hurlers.

The Cork local media are failing miserably in their job - there's barely been any mention whatsoever about the Freemount email.

The overall general vibe I get from the new stadium is that it sounds an awful lot like a failing business - keeping as much info hidden as possible, pretending everything is great, being ultra-sensitive to any criticism/questions, scrambling around desperately hoping for a miracle. Long-term I just can't see the house of cards staying upright because you can only dodge paying the bills so long. At some point it's going to come out how much Cork GAA are in hole for and then there will be fireworks.

blue note · 13-07-2017 05:30PM

Boom__Boom wrote: »

Ger Lane said the matter would be dealt with at the end of the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, said Freemount were a disgrace for bringing this up in what was a successful week for Cork GAA and that the board weren't beholden to anyone. The Freemount delegate tried to speak twice but Lane wouldn't let him/said contracts were a confidential matter. There was applause for Ger Lane (not 100% unanimous but still a majority of the room)

This is 3rd hand - was talking to someone who was talking to someone at the meeting - so may be not 100% but the general gist. Tinpot dictator stuff which is S.O.P for Frank and friends.

I think money is the major issue - the county board is trying to keep the hole in the finances quiet as long as possible in the hope something will turn up - someone I know is convinced that Pairc Ui Rinn will be sold for houses in the not too distant future - I have heard some other stuff about scrimping on underage teams, mentors being forced to pay for basic essentials out of their own pocket, long long delays in players getting reimbursed for expenses.

The whole Hawkeye thing where they will be a "score detection system" in place for the opening games now but it won't be Hawkeye sounds very dodge and I can't help but think it's related to the finance issue.

Some of the Cork football crowd are not pleased about the fact that the opening day of new stadium the Cork footballers are playing away in Limerick, saying that there's no way the County Board would have let it pass with the hurlers.

The Cork local media are failing miserably in their job - there's barely been any mention whatsoever about the Freemount email.

The overall general vibe I get from the new stadium is that it sounds an awful lot like a failing business - keeping as much info hidden as possible, pretending everything is great, being ultra-sensitive to any criticism/questions, scrambling around desperately hoping for a miracle. Long-term I just can't see the house of cards staying upright because you can only dodge paying the bills so long. At some point it's going to come out how much Cork GAA are in hole for and then there will be fireworks.

That's absolutely incredible. This stadium must be costing thousands extra per GAA club in Cork. This clearly concerns the clubs and you'd think they'd want clarity and understanding of the situation and how it arose. But they seem happy to bury their heads in the sand in relation to the whole thing.

I wonder long term how much use the whole thing will get. I saw Padriag Duffy basically admitted that it's not a suitable venue for this weekends matches, but it's being used because it's just finished. I wonder long term how much it will get used. I think the fans would like it to be used as much as the old one was i.e. for neutral matches with Waterford vs Tipp and for home and away arrangements with Cork. But I'd just worry that they'd decide that it's Cork and they should use it, regardless of what the people want. I could see the last round of the qualifiers / quarter finals rotating between Thurles and Cork, evevn though Thurles is the better venue for practically all the pairings.

namloc1980 · 13-07-2017 06:22PM

blue note wrote: »

That's absolutely incredible. This stadium must be costing thousands extra per GAA club in Cork. This clearly concerns the clubs and you'd think they'd want clarity and understanding of the situation and how it arose. But they seem happy to bury their heads in the sand in relation to the whole thing.

I wonder long term how much use the whole thing will get. I saw Padriag Duffy basically admitted that it's not a suitable venue for this weekends matches, but it's being used because it's just finished. I wonder long term how much it will get used. I think the fans would like it to be used as much as the old one was i.e. for neutral matches with Waterford vs Tipp and for home and away arrangements with Cork. But I'd just worry that they'd decide that it's Cork and they should use it, regardless of what the people want. I could see the last round of the qualifiers / quarter finals rotating between Thurles and Cork, evevn though Thurles is the better venue for practically all the pairings.

Assuming the Hurling championship gets a shakeup for next season all the stadiums will get more use. Each Munster team will get 2 home and 2 away games at least in Munster alone.

I do think Thurles could do with a facelift. The old stand in particular is badly in need of a serious renovation. It'll compare poorly to the new Páirc facilities wise and as a result more games will go to Cork which will have the much more modern stadium.

shmeee · 14-07-2017 12:15PM

namloc1980 wrote: »

Assuming the Hurling championship gets a shakeup for next season all the stadiums will get more use. Each Munster team will get 2 home and 2 away games at least in Munster alone.

I do think Thurles could do with a facelift. The old stand in particular is badly in need of a serious renovation. It'll compare poorly to the new Páirc facilities wise and as a result more games will go to Cork which will have the much more modern stadium.

It's a hurling match we are going to see at the end of the day, not going for a Michelin Star Meal.

The old stand in Thurles is one of the best stands to watch a match from, I don't mind what goes on underneath, I only go in for the match. It only got a make over a number of years ago, space is the problem with the road and houses so no room for expansion.

Thurles will still have 5,000 more seats than Cork, which could be a factor in eventual games in years to come. More bums on seats means more money at the end of the day!

munchkin_utd · 14-07-2017 02:02PM

Boom__Boom wrote: »

I think money is the major issue - the county board is trying to keep the hole in the finances quiet as long as possible in the hope something will turn up - someone I know is convinced that Pairc Ui Rinn will be sold for houses in the not too distant future - I have heard some other stuff about scrimping on underage teams, mentors being forced to pay for basic essentials out of their own pocket, long long delays in players getting reimbursed for expenses.<snip>

with the 2nd pitch at PUC for smaller attendances, and no chance of any intercounty league or championship being held at Pairc Ui Rinn to give the 10 year ticket holders their hard bought games, there's little need for it, or at least its an asset which could be lived without given the shiny stadium down the road which still needs to be paid for.

Boom__Boom · 14-07-2017 03:50PM

munchkin_utd wrote: »

with the 2nd pitch at PUC for smaller attendances, and no chance of any intercounty league or championship being held at Pairc Ui Rinn to give the 10 year ticket holders their hard bought games, there's little need for it, or at least its an asset which could be lived without given the shiny stadium down the road which still needs to be paid for.

Yeah the rational for hanging on to Pairc ui Rinn is fairly limited - the only plus point is that the atmosphere there would probably be better for a lot of games with smaller crowds but I doubt that will matter much to Frank & co when there are bills to be paid. You'd imagine it would be worth a decent chunk of change if they could get it zoned for houses.

I doubt there will be too many games on the 2nd pitch though as all of the following with be using it for training.

Senior Footballers
Senior Hurlers
U20 Footballers
U20 Hurlers
U17 Footballers
U17 Hurlers
Junior Footballers
Intermediate Hurlers
Plus the development squads in both codes.

Someone told me that one of the planning conditions was that some of the local schools have some sort of call on the centre of excellence mediocrity pitch as well.

Potentially you have the ladies football and camogie teams from senior on down going to be in the mix as well.

I'd say everything will be using the main pitch.

Frank and the boys are going to be trying to do everything in their power to get championship games in the new stadium, in both codes (replays, qualifiers, group stages) and they won't give a damm about dragging supporters miles out of the way. I'd say there will be some fun and games in the fixture committee rooms before too long.

Boom__Boom · 14-07-2017 03:55PM

blue note wrote: »

That's absolutely incredible. This stadium must be costing thousands extra per GAA club in Cork. This clearly concerns the clubs and you'd think they'd want clarity and understanding of the situation and how it arose. But they seem happy to bury their heads in the sand in relation to the whole thing.

I wonder long term how much use the whole thing will get. I saw Padriag Duffy basically admitted that it's not a suitable venue for this weekends matches, but it's being used because it's just finished. I wonder long term how much it will get used. I think the fans would like it to be used as much as the old one was i.e. for neutral matches with Waterford vs Tipp and for home and away arrangements with Cork. But I'd just worry that they'd decide that it's Cork and they should use it, regardless of what the people want. I could see the last round of the qualifiers / quarter finals rotating between Thurles and Cork, evevn though Thurles is the better venue for practically all the pairings.

I think if the strikes hadn't happened there would be some appetite for a fight but a lot of folks in Cork GAA have either walked away entirely or have adopted a head in the sand attitude to the county board and just focused on their own club.

GAA Infastructure

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