Soccer Pitch ploughed up on GAA instructions

[highorlow]

CASTLEMAINE sportsfield, which is at the centre of a bitter dispute between local GAA and soccer clubs, was ploughed on the instructions of the GAA before the weekend.

Following the nighttime ploughing of the sportsfield, which is regularly used by the local soccer club, a hole was dug in the middle of Milltown/ Castlemaine GAA pitch late on Saturday night, forcing an under-21 game to be moved to another venue on Sunday afternoon.

County GAA Board Chairman Jerome Conway confirmed to The Kerryman that the sportsfield, which is the home ground of Castlemaine United soccer club, was ploughed on instructions from the GAA on Thursday. Soccer goalposts standing in the middle of the field are the only remaining evidence of sporting exploits there.

While local groups dispute the GAA's claim to exclusive ownership of the sportsfield, Mr Conway insisted the board had acted within its rights. In October, Milltown/ Castlemaine GAA Club was granted planning permission to redevelop the pitch, erect floodlights and construct a car park and associated services, despite an application from the soccer club for leave of appeal.

"The property belongs to the GAA and there's no debate about ownership as there is documentation there," Mr Conway stated, adding: "Of course the field was ploughed by the GAA".

Asked why the actions had been carried out in darkness, Mr Conway said he was unsure.

"The long term objective is to develop the pitch properly as there is a slope on it. We have been given a directive by Croke Park to use the property according to the rules and that's what we are doing," he added.

The actions mean that local soccer club Castlemaine United are now without a home ground, despite having used the pitch since their inception two decades ago. The suspension of GAA's Rule 42, banning soccer from the association's pitches, does not apply outside Croke Park.

The newly-formed Castlemaine Community Sportsfield Action Group — representing local community groups including Castlemaine United AFC — are furious that the GAA has had the pitch ploughed.

The group argues that the sportsfield was originally handed over to the general community by the Spring Walker family in 1936, had always been a community field and had merely been placed in the trust of the GAA. They point to carnivals, community fairs, sheep shearing, dog shows, tennis and basketball events held in the sportsfield to support their claim.

At a fiery meeting hosted by the group in Castlemaine Community Centre on Monday night, plans were initiated for a community-wide petition condemning the GAA's actions, with possible protest also planned outside Kerry County Board offices.

"This is the greatest bit of scamping I've seen for a long time," one angry action group member stated.

"Our group has had to resort to blockading and chaining. We will cover the entrance with cars every night if we have to," chairman Charlie Boyle stated.

Others present at Monday's meeting claimed the actions were "an insult to the children of the community". "Our event in June has gone, as has the Easter camp here," one stated.

"It is now very cheeky of the GAA club to come over and do their lotto draw in our village," the group's assistant PRO Brendan O'Reilly added.

The community group is now planning to reseed the pitch and a call for locals to help remove stones from the ground will be made in the coming days.

The action group is to lodge a petition with the Circuit Court seeking an injunction restraining Milltown Castlemaine GAA club from further interference at the site.

Meanhile, former senior captain of Milltown Castlemaine GAA club and player manager of Castlemaine United AFC, Jason Giles expressed his dismay at the recent developments and has decided to take action: "I will not be renewing my membership with Milltown/ Castlemaine GAA, a club I've been a lifelong member of. It's nothing against the players but I've been given no choice following this."

[Canalman]

Time now for the Soccer club to galvanize their members to go out and fundraise, sell raffle tickets...... buy their own ground, develop it and use it. Simple, end of story.

Not the Soccer way of course, easier to sit on their asses and go squealing to Joe Duffy etc and play the anti GAA card.

[Orior]

Similar story line to St Pauls Holywood?

[orangeman]

There'll be crack about this ! 

[magpie seanie]

Time now for the Soccer club to galvanize their members to go out and fundraise, sell raffle tickets...... buy their own ground, develop it and use it. Simple, end of story.

Not the Soccer way of course, easier to sit on their asses and go squealing to Joe Duffy etc and play the anti GAA card.

Nail on the head.

[stpauls]

Similar story line to St Pauls Holywood?

eh?

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Similar story line to St Pauls Holywood?

What was the story there?

[Hardy]

In fairness, they could have said "lads we'll be developing this, so yiz'll have to find somewhere else to play". It's a bit John B Keane (The Field) to just go out and plough it up at 5 a.m.!

[stpauls]

Similar story line to St Pauls Holywood?

What was the story there?

first i have heard of anything like that GDA, though i have only been at the club for the last 5 years, so it might be before my time.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

Similar story line to St Pauls Holywood?

What was the story there?

first i have heard of anything like that GDA, though i have only been at the club for the last 5 years, so it might be before my time.

Wonder if the bit in bold is what Oriar is on about?


History of St Paul's


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Naomh Pol CLG - Saint Paul's GAC

Based in Holywood, County Down, St. Paul's GAA club encompasses the towns of Holywood, Bangor and Newtownards. The first club in Holywood was organised in 1927, carrying the proud name of St. Colmcille. The teams' strip was made up of black shorts and black shirts with white collars. This early club team also sponsored a handball team and a drama club.

Although successful in the early days, the club continued for a mere decade. It was revived in 1948 under the title of Holywood's Patron Saint, St. Laiseran, whom had established the Priory in the seventh century. The revived club lasted for another decade but withdrew from the League in 1956.

The highly successful Thomas Russell Gaelic Club was formed in 1962 and soon earned the name "the Holywood Giant Killers". Early success did not continue – the club struggled on until 1976 when it was decided to withdraw from the Antrim League.

The next milestone in the story is the foundation of the St. Paul's Gaelic Football Club in 1979. St. Paul's is an amalgamation of the Holywood, Bangor and Newtownards clubs. In 1963 the Scrabo Harps club was founded in Newtownards. The Bangor club was founded in 1963 and remained active in the Down League until 1978. From its inception, St. Paul's has been a very successful club fielding up to five teams in the Down All County and East Down Leagues and Championships.

Originally the Holywood teams played on a small pitch known as Burke's Field, situated on the town side of Spafield Terrace. Later a move was made to Maguire's Field, which remained the Holywood Gaelic Field pitch for many years. The pitch was small, only 92 metres by 60 metres, uneven and marshy – virtually unplayable for nine months of the year! The field was below the ancient raised beach of Belfast Lough, between Pebble Lodge (now "The Parks" apartment building) and the town dump at Spafield.

In 1972 the Roads Authority decimated the cricket grounds (which were alongside the Gaelic pitch) by driving the Holywood by-pass over the pitch. The Gaelic Football Club generously allowed the Cricket Club to use parts of their ground for 25 years to continue playing.

By the early 1990's St. Paul's was a well-established club. The club realised that the inferior playing facilities of the old Maguire's Field were completely unsatisfactory to meet the growing player participation of Gaelic football in the area. The Foundation for Sport and the Arts promised a grant of £50,000 to upgrade the ground. This grant was dependent on the club raising, from its own membership, a minimum of £10,000, which it did through a very successful draw.

The club has made significant strides in recent years, including the transition of a pitch cherished by opposing teams for all the wrong reasons, to one that is rightly the envy of many in Ulster. The ground is named after the late great Patrick MacNamee, Uachtarán of Cumann Luthchleas Gael (1938-1943) and dedicated Holywood Gael. In 1997 work was started on the new grounds. A playing area of 130 metres by 85 metres being created with the first game on the new grounds played in May 1999. Grants of £60,000 from the Sports Council for Northern Ireland and £25,000 from the North Down Borough Council have contributed towards state of the art dressing rooms. Spectator accommodation has been provided on the natural banking along the Belfast Road side.

The dressing rooms were completed for the start of the 2002 season finally realising the vision of many dedicated members past and present in building a high profile and progressive club ideally placed to be successful both on the field of play and in its contributions to the wider community. The fine campanile of St. Colmcille's Church overlooks the magnificent green sward, with its black cloth of Belfast Lough shimmering in the sunlight below the Antrim Hills. This is indeed an imposing approach to Holywood and a worthy tribute to the members and friends of St. Paul's Gaelic Athletic Club, whose goal is to provide facilities to compete with the best.


Naomh Pol CLG – St. Paul's GAC
Founded: 1979

Uachtarán: Mr. Davie McCoy
Cathaoirleach: Mr. Paddy Hunt
Rúnaí: Mr. Donal Graham



Naomh Pol CLG Club Crest

The new crest encorporate's emblems of St. Colmcille's Church (Holywood), a boat (Bangor) and Scrabo Tower (Newtownards) - representing the three towns that the club serves.

[magpie seanie]

In fairness, they could have said "lads we'll be developing this, so yiz'll have to find somewhere else to play". It's a bit John B Keane (The Field) to just go out and plough it up at 5 a.m.!

Sometimes the nicey, nicey approach is not the best way and believe me I am speaking from bitter experience. Most communities are full of wankers who only get up off their rear ends to throw a spanner in the works against people who are busting their arses providing facilities/games etc for their kids. I'm sure the soccer lads knew they were developing it, it was hardly a state secret. People actually are involved in both sports I'd imagine.

[rrhf]

Feel free to pass round the keys of the massey.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

To be fair we shouldn't be too quick to wade in behind the GAA club, though obviously that's always our initial instict. It all depends on the facts in issue and particularly the truth of the quote below.

The group argues that the sportsfield was originally handed over to the general community by the Spring Walker family in 1936, had always been a community field and had merely been placed in the trust of the GAA. They point to carnivals, community fairs, sheep shearing, dog shows, tennis and basketball events held in the sportsfield to support their claim.

If it is a community pitch then the GAA shouldn't be making unilateral decisions to plough fields. If it is the GAA's property and the soccer club have just been using it all these years then they've nothing to complain about. I'd say the crucial thing is what committee actually had control of the pitch, though they may have be subsumed into the GAA club over the years. I know personally that our local community centre housed our changing rooms and was, to all intents and purposes, our clubhouse for years until we developed our own premises. The relevant committee for running the community centre basically collapsed as they were happy enough to let us work away but we were always aware of the fact that the centre wasn't our premises. Something similar could have happened here except the passage of time could be greater.

[corn02]

It's a strange one, my first reaction when I read it last week was that the GAA club were wrong, very wrong. But I don;t know.

I am sure TAC will agree with me here, but coming from where we do we don't really need to compete, so it is hard to get an idication on communites split between the two sports.

[lynchbhoy]

a bit bold of the gaa lads, maybe they had already issued a decree about taking back the grounds prev...

anyhow the soccer lads could maybe play their home games in tallaght along with the new multi-sports (as long as its socce) complex there