Antrim Football Thread

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Sorry, didn't...

[GTP]

Thank Christ for the residents and the Judicial Review because it seems the original stadium plan was a Health & Safety ticking time bomb.
The GAA didn't go away and tweak a couple of things to put it right. They had to go right back to the drawing board and design a different stadium. It must have been a fcukin mess.

There were insufficient exits to ensure a capacity crowd could get out of the stadium in 8 minutes if the Andersonstown Road was closed due to an emergency. At least that is how I understand it: Assembly 2015

[Spike]

who is actually running this mess at the moment?

demolishing 20 year old concrete terraces this year to put in identical concrete terraces makes a lot of sense in no way.

[Torcrua]

I still think one of the biggest mistakes in this whole saga gets overlooked.

Ulster Council deserve plenty of criticism for how the project was managed once they took control, but Antrim County Board also have to accept responsibility for handing over Casement so readily and effectively giving up control of their own county ground without enough safeguards.

Closing the stadium before planning was secure and before there were firm guarantees on timelines, funding and delivery was a huge gamble. Once the keys were handed over, Antrim were largely passengers while decisions affecting their home were being made elsewhere.

Every major project carries risk, but you don't surrender your principal asset without legally robust assurances on what happens if delays, planning issues or funding problems arise. Instead, Antrim ended up homeless for years with no meaningful leverage.

The lesson isn't just about poor project management, it's about governance. County boards should never again hand over ownership or control of their county ground without watertight guarantees on delivery, accountability and contingency plans. Unfortunately, Antrim have paid the price for that.

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Pretty much spot on. And was anyone ever held to account? Nope. Our reps continued as nodding dogs, year after year after year.
We actually managed to free ourselves from those major decision makers, only to bring them straight back in in a different role. Sometimes ya get what ya deserve.

[whatwillbwillb]

Pretty much spot on. And was anyone ever held to account? Nope. Our reps continued as nodding dogs, year after year after year.
We actually managed to free ourselves from those major decision makers, only to bring them straight back in in a different role. Sometimes ya get what ya deserve.

No one mentioning the political involvement, the virtue signalling has begun early ahead of next May, who's holding them to account for their role in all this?  So have we really freed ourselves from the real major decision makers? However I do concur with you, ya do da get what ya deserve.

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

Pretty much spot on. And was anyone ever held to account? Nope. Our reps continued as nodding dogs, year after year after year.
We actually managed to free ourselves from those major decision makers, only to bring them straight back in in a different role. Sometimes ya get what ya deserve.

No one mentioning the political involvement, the virtue signalling has begun early ahead of next May, who's holding them to account for their role in all this?  So have we really freed ourselves from the real major decision makers? However I do concur with you, ya do da get what ya deserve.

While I don't disagree with you, the real decision makers in this case are those involved in Ulster GAA who have £207 million to build a stadium and who continue to fanny about. They aren't held to account either.

[BigGreenField]

With so many different parties involved, when everyone is responsible then no-one is and everybody sails on.

The accountability and consequence gap is a permanent feature of life here across pretty much everything, no surprises it applies here.

[BigGreenField]

Is the county management team intact for next year?

[ck]

All of the above comments are accurate however I have sympathy for Antrim county board. They did what they believed was right at the time to progress the project. They were influenced by a number of people from Ulster council, one in particular, who is no longer working for Ulster GAA. This man single handedly made a mess of the relationship between the GAA and the local residents, was responsible for the early closure of Casement and made several very poor decisions.
He then jumped ship (perhaps was pushed) and now works elsewhere without a care in the world.

With the benefit of hindsight Antrim should never have handed over the keys without planning in place but key personnel in Ulster GAA should be held to account for presiding over a complete disaster of a process from the very start.

The Euros debacle will go down as a missed opportunity with unionists taking joy in cutting their noses off despite their faces (nothing new there) and the British Gov doing a U-turn on their support (nothing new there either!). Like most things in this failed statelet, we have to do them ourselves and not expect support from anyone which is the point we are back to again. 

Downsize, make sure it can hold Ulster Finals as a minimum and proceed with planning. A generation has been lost here, lets not lose another one!

[Duine Inteacht Eile]

All of the above comments are accurate however I have sympathy for Antrim county board. They did what they believed was right at the time to progress the project.

I don't. They were hateful hoors. They sent threatening letters from O'Hare solicitors to people, including many past players, officials, supporters and our only ever football all star for simply being a member of a social club that raised and continues to raise a lot of funds for Antrim GAA.
I think you are playing down their role in the terrible decision making and all round shithousery.

[Spike]

I think it highlighted the ineptitude of the county board at the time.  Ulster gaa have royally messed up the journey but Antrim gaa were incredibly naïve with handing over the keys.

What professionals were advising them at the time? What was the point of getting the cash at all if it cant hold Ulster finals - surely that was the whole point given ravenhill and windsor were upgraded? 

The figures still being discussed for this downgraded project are mindbogglingly high for what is essentially a simple construction project. The new stand being discussed must be a smaller version of the recently constructed Camp Nou given its purported cost!  At this rate the cost of designer and planners will be higher than construction costs.

The capacity of the old stadium with a 1950s stand and basic terracing was approximately 31,500 - surely a decent sized stand and the same terracing will achieve that otherwise the project team need to be held accountable.

1 stand and terracing at the figures mentioned is taking the proverbial. Again who is advising or guiding these people?

Would go down as one of the worst stadium value for money projects ever but at least it gives us something to play in.   







 

[johnnycool]

The GAA has a centralised command structure even moreso now since the debacle of Páirc Uí Chaoimh and with that every single deed of every single GAA property resides with Croke Park.

You can't do shit to your property if you're taking out loans without CP or Ulster Council approval, especially government grants.

Even the trustees for each club will include the county secretary and the provincial secretary.

As for Casement, it was really shoddily handled by a lot of people, some have rode off into the sunset and a certain Ryan from the Ulster council and a curly haired SF MLA need to take a lot of the blame for trying to push through a totally over the top stadium in an area it was totally unsuitable for.
The residents have probably did everyone a favour as their objections and delays ended up with the H&S issue coming to light.
Deciding to try and use a pathway down to the Kennedy way roundabout as one of the main routes out of the stadium was hardly a flyer.
We can blame unionist intransigence all we like and that didn't help get those listed above out of this mess of their own making but it's not the main reason the place is still a building site almost 20 years later.

[imtommygunn]

Exactly this. I think those two people were trying to make a name for themselves then rode off into the sunset. We shouldn't have given it away yes. It's just a complete shitshow with no sign of changing any time soon.

[Sportacus]

What really gets under my skin is the photoshoots and 'big talk' from GAA officials and politicians.  It really f**king irritates me. A generation of spoofers. Really is hard to believe here we are heading for 2027 and nothing to show for it.