Excellent letter in Belfast Telegraph in support of Long Kesh Stadium

[snatter]

Why not scrap the idea of Bobby Sands Park, give the money to more worthy causes and let the 3 sporting organisations fend for themselves. We dont need a stadium, we have plenty of our own. None of the others can say that.

5ive Times,

I posted a reply to your question before:

FiveTimes,

if it takes £40M to develop Windsor Park

to a comfortable but not luxurious standard with a capacity of 25,000

, then how many millions more would it take Ulster GAA to go it alone on a 40k modern stadium, at least two thirds seated and covered as per the strategic review?

Way too much if you ask me - probably in the region of at least £80M i'd guess, and that's before you buy the site.
One more reason to back the Maze and spend our millions setting up new coaching schemes/clubs in the towns and cities.

And also, if the Maze money were divvied up, and we were to get a 40k stadium to the exact same standard as any new Windsor, ie all seated and covered, I'd reckon the cost would be at least 100M, ie not a kick in the arse away from the cost of the Maze itself.

To try and split the money, ensuring all sports are treated equitably would definately cost more than just developing the Maze for everybody.
Not to mention the gurning the unionists would do when they realise that under any allocation by need, we'd get much more than soccer or rugby.

[Evil Genius]

Isn't it time the iFA/OWC took cognisance of the wholly valid and constructive criticisms levelled against them, and did something about them in a positive manner, rather than disimissing them out of hand. By doing so they might,just might, start to attract some semblance of cross community support. End the siege mentality ffs

"...some semblance of cross community support" - just like your beloved GAA, then?

The IFA does, indeed, recognise valid criticism which is why, for example, they have initiated the increasingly successful "Football For All" campaign.

By the same token, they have received equally valid recognition of their positive response to criticism, as evidenced by the praise given from many quarters, both within and outwith football.

However you, being the very definition of the bigot, only see one side of the equation (and a distorted side, at that), whilst wholly ignoring the other side.

And that's before we even get to the "beam in your own eye" which refuses point blank to recognise the wholly "monocultural" nature of the GAA in every aspect of its operations in NI.

[Evil Genius]

To say that Windsor is not in the village is like saying Casement Park isnt in Andytown

As someone who has lived in a sidestreet off the Lisburn Road, I can tell you for a fact that WP is not in the Village.

As someone who has lived in a sidestreet off the Lisburn Road, I would regard everything over the Gt Northern Street footbridge as being in the village.

Hang on a minute. How come all these posters who either have lived on the Lisburn Road, or gone out with girls from there, or passed by sufficiently often to be able to count all the flags and bonfires etc are at the same time trying to tell us that Windsor Park is unsafe for Catholics/Nationalists etc. Windsor is off a sidestreet of the Lisburn Road, after all...

Or are you all Prods, or something? 

[T Fearon]

Evil Genius how many extra catholic/nationalists has the FFA attracted to Windsor Park?

Zilch.

Also many unionists do attend GAA events, I know, because I have met and talked to them at these, but in fairness they tend to be middle class types, more open minded and not riff raff, but then I suppose you don't mix in those circles

[Evil Genius]

I definitely wouldn't consider Windsor Park to be in the Village as suggested above, it is however in a loyalist area, do our Protestant brethren not understand how this would be a bit of a put off for Romanists?

Thank you, Mac Eoghain, for introducing a degree of honesty which is clearly lacking in Fearon, 5Times, Dubnut etc.

As for the rest of your point, clearly WP is in a Loyalist area, but it is only predominantly, not exclusively so, and the demographics are changing all the time.

Moreover, it may be accessed by an entirely "neutral" route (from Boucher Road), so that "Romanists" need not, in fact, be so put off that they cannot/will not attend.

The proof of this is to be found in the use of WP by e.g. a local Camogie team; by soccer teams with predominantly RC/Nationalist support like Cliftonville; by RC fans of Liverpool or MU when they have played at WP and most pertinently to this debate, by that small but significant percentage of NI fans who are RC/Nationalist and who do actively support the NI international team wherever it plays, home or away.

Still, why let inconvenient facts get in the way of a good rant*, eh?


* - Not you, Mac E, btw.

[his holiness nb]

Thank you, Mac Eoghain, for introducing a degree of honesty which is clearly lacking in Fearon, 5Times, Dubnut etc.

Get with the times EG I havent been called Dubnut for many months 

Now could you please point out where I said Windsor park is in the village?
You will find i didnt.
And you will find this because I have never been to "the village" or Windsor Park and have no idea of the geographical make up of the area and therefore have declined from commenting on this topic.
has it got to the stage where I am now one of "themmuns"?

[Rossfan]

the wholly "monocultural" nature of the GAA

The GAA was formed to prevent  Ireland becoming a monocultural British entity.
Methinks we have succeeded.

[nifan]

Evil Genius how many extra catholic/nationalists has the FFA attracted to Windsor Park?

Zilch.

And how pray tell do you know this?

[Oraisteach]

This discussion of Windsor Park's location is amusing.  It's like an English grammar test on the use of the preposition.  Windsor Park is located a) in  b) beside  c) near  d) underneath the Village of the Damned. 

EG, it's been aeons since I attended a soccer match at WP, but I have to say that its proximity to the Village did give me the heebie-jeebies, and though I don't doubt your statement that it can be accessed easily and safely, you have to admit that, rightly or wrongly, Nationalists might well feel uneasy going there.

Now, I know I'm naïve, but can someone explain to me why exactly this ground has to be at the Maze.  Surely there's got to be some piece of land in Belfast that can accommodate this stadium and be acceptable to all segments of the community.

And on an even more naïve note.  What is the purpose of this venue?  To promote cross-community understanding?  I can see soccer and rugby needing better venues, but doesn't the GAA have enough quality fields, except in Armagh, that is.

[snatter]

This discussion of Windsor Park's location is amusing.  It's like an English grammar test on the use of the preposition.  Windsor Park is located a) in  b) beside  c) near  d) underneath the Village of the Damned. 

EG, it's been aeons since I attended a soccer match at WP, but I have to say that its proximity to the Village did give me the heebie-jeebies, and though I don't doubt your statement that it can be accessed easily and safely, you have to admit that, rightly or wrongly, Nationalists might well feel uneasy going there.

Now, I know I'm naïve, but can someone explain to me why exactly this ground has to be at the Maze.  Surely there's got to be some piece of land in Belfast that can accommodate this stadium and be acceptable to all segments of the community.

And on an even more naïve note.  What is the purpose of this venue?  To promote cross-community understanding?  I can see soccer and rugby needing better venues, but doesn't the GAA have enough quality fields, except in Armagh, that is.

yep, the gaa has quality fields alright - it just doesn't have quality seated and covered accommodation to go with them.
In ulster our "stadia" are a joke.

[Gaoth Dobhair Abu]

So where do the IFA prefer?? Not Belfast and not the maze, so where?

From what the Northern soccer fans who post here seem to think, maybe the IFA would suggest the moon, since the big-wigs seem wired to it.

[stiffler]

So where will Northern Ireland play their games at? would any of the League of Ireland stadias be up to standard? it would be a shame to have to cross water to play a home game. This would signal a complete lack of foresight by the governance of the IFA.

[stiffler]

As for it being "neutral" - it's undeniably in the middle of the Upper Bann constituency, an undeniably Loyalist area.

Undeniably in the middle of Upper Bann?? mmmm think not.

p.s. Don't be saying that to John O'Dowd. He topped the recent election in the Upper Bann constituency.

[GweylTah]

EG, it's been aeons since I attended a soccer match at WP, but I have to say that its proximity to the Village did give me the heebie-jeebies, and though I don't doubt your statement that it can be accessed easily and safely, you have to admit that, rightly or wrongly, Nationalists might well feel uneasy going there.

Now, I know I'm naïve, but can someone explain to me why exactly this ground has to be at the Maze.  Surely there's got to be some piece of land in Belfast that can accommodate this stadium and be acceptable to all segments of the community.

Good points, but sure the Maze is 'free' and the island of Ireland hasn't had a Millenium Dome of its own, so time we got one surely at Maze.

[delboy]

Point of order, windsor park is not in the village nor does it back onto the village the area of housing on the other side of tates avenue onto which it backs onto is known as 'Bridge End' and not the village.
Just a wee history/geography lesson for anyone interested!