GAA Infastructure

Did it take an age in Thurles or were the ref and umpires looking at the big screen like the rest of us. I only remember it taking an age the once but hadn't been paying attention either.

They had a long term masterplan and planning permission for the whole stadium, with accompanying mockups etc. but their immediate plan and fundraising goals only extended to replacing the current terrace with a stand. Now we can't even afford that...

Hawkeye is limited. It gives a score if the ball breaks the plain of the crossbar even though the whole of the ball is supposed to cross the whole of the line for a score to be given. Its not rugby where touching the line with the ball is a score .

Again if the ball touches the vertical plain for a point it's given as a wide even though many of these would more than likely be a score if they hit the post and popped over

Seeing an article like that does make me wonder just how many counties could realistically afford some of the projects they are planning. If Mayo, who have a great support compared to most counties and have been consistently a top team, are going to take the guts of thirty years to pay for a ground redevelopment then what chance have counties with less resources?

How many times can Croke Park setup special arrangements to help pay for overly expensive developments? Pearse Stadium, MacHale Park and Pairc Ui Chaoimh all ended up being costing more than expected between building costs and not being able to afford loans. Casement is going to cost a fortune so is the capacity going to be there for them to step in and help if another ground redevelopment overruns its budget?

I strongly feel there needs to be more joined up thinking about ground development in general. Realistically should the GAA be rowing in behind plans for 15,000+ capacity stadiums in counties where they'll practically never be filled? Surely it makes more sense to build slightly smaller stadiums and deal with the occasional scramble for tickets than it does to take on debt paying for seats that might only have a backside in them once every three years?

HQ need to take over development of the major county grounds. Lots of GAA fans would also now be going to the provincial rugby grounds or Premier League so expect a bit better than the stone benches of Castlebar. Now I'm not saying they need to be as snazzy as Thomond Park or wherever but they do need a bit of work in terms of catering and especially toilets.

It looks like Louth County Board have sorted out funding for the new Dundalk Stadium. Fair play to them for thinking outside the box

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/louth/news/foreign-investors-pledge-148m-to-louth-gaa-stadium-in-exchange-for-irish-residency-42056152.html

The article states the 37 foreign investors pledged €400,000 to the greenfield development... But I think that's fairly misleading from what I gather.

The 37 foreign investors get family visas for their €400,000 "pledge". I don't think they have a say if it goes to Louth, Mayo or Carlow.

Anyway, they're be a lot of sporting infrastructure built from the buying of visas by these guys.

Yes, Michael Ring got €3m from it for the Mayo junior soccer club Westport United recently.

That's my general understanding of it but open to correction. I was interested to find out a bit more about it but answers/details were hard come by.

The projects need to have planning permission granted and (possibly, not sure on this) need to benefit a decent size area/region. Generally larger scale projects afaik, things that would be too big for the current sports grants.

It's a huge windfall for sporting organisations. This "buy a visa" pot has been there since 2012 but only very recently opened up to sports projects.

I know things are expensive, but is there anything to be said for organising a large volunteer effort?

When my cousin was over in the US, she said it wasn't uncommon for entire communities to pick a date a few months down the line, organise days off, lunches etc for the day, and do up a local ground, whatever they sport.

Thinking about it logically, say if a GAA club organised something similar, say decided to ask all the local carpenters, builders, electricians, club members to do a volunteer day where they all bought necessary materials (would, bricks, cement, poles, fencing) and just do up a ground, add in some basic seating around the sides of the pitch, set up some lights for training, a bit of painting, trimming trees, things like that.

Easier said than done and I know its an effort and an expense, especially in these times, but say if it was planned for 6 months down the line, everyone volunteers on the day so no payment for services, arrange sandwiches, soup and such for the people on the day, and everyone was asked to raise up €150-200 over the 6 months, you'd probably do some serious work.

Just a thought.

I suppose there's that side of things.

If it's one thing that sporting bodies in this country should all have a consensus on, and work together on, it's bringing down the cost of insurance across the board. Between the various organisations, they'd hold huge political swing to have the issue tackled, or at the very least bring about change. Obviously I'm not saying insurance should be removed, but there's too many sporting organisations and clubs that don't need to pay half what they do.

The big issue in my club is maintenance. We have built a new hurling indoor facility but im not sure it ll be maintained properly. It lacks the finesse that a private facility would have..like coffee machines..comfy seating ect. We are great to build stuff in Ireland but terrible to maintain

Probably had to close part of the terrace for a big screen and extra media seating or something like that.

That is usually an issue with older stadiums. Can't imagine PuC is reduced already.

If the IRL & UK bid is sucessfull for the Soccer, The FAI should look for a derogation from UEFA so PUC could also be used