Westmeath and Roscommon to ground share in Athlone?

[Syferus]

Lads I can't see how a shared centre of excellence would be able to cope with demand. I think it's a fine idea in principle but know how hard it is to get into the training facility in thurles during the spring, summer and even autumn. Factor in U14, U15, U16, U17 along with minor, intermediates/juniors and U21 and seniors. Now multiply by 2 for hurling and football. Now multiply by 2 again for 2 counties.

It's dicey enough negotiating with different squads in your own county for slots, never mind a county in competition with you!

Sure Prentys palace in Bekan is suppose to cater for all counties in Connacht.

Good one. We both know "our lads" have been in limbo for nigh-on two decades.

Looks like someone didn't attend or even read the info from our last meeting.

Oh I read it. And everyone has heard the talk of ''progress'' and their ideas for such and such ''when the ownership issue is resolved''. It's utterly meaningless at this point until something happens and you're being very naive if you think otherwise.

The fact is neither the Connacht Council or Croke Park will touch the Hyde with a barge poll until we actually own it and even then it doesn't solve the reality of how much money it will take to fix a crumbling stadium. Whatever figure ends up being quoted you can lop at least a few more million on top of it - how many times can you remember work on a major stadium coming in under quotation?

We're at a crossroads and we need to think long and hard where we should go before it's too late. If nothing more Cake's idea has opened the floor for ideas that go beyond ploughing ahead trying to wrestle the Hyde from Ros Gaels.

[Captain Obvious]

Didn't Westmeath announce a while ago that they are doing up the stand in Cusack Park?

Yes they did. http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/sport/gaa/articles/2013/08/14/4017130-proposed-cusack-park-stand-makeover-to-cost-35-million/

[Rossfan]

Didn't Westmeath announce a while ago that they are doing up the stand in Cusack Park?

Yes they did. http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/sport/gaa/articles/2013/08/14/4017130-proposed-cusack-park-stand-makeover-to-cost-35-million/

€3.5 million it says in the report
Looks like Syfín is going to have to use the Hyde like the rest of us for many a year yet.

[Syferus]

Didn't Westmeath announce a while ago that they are doing up the stand in Cusack Park?

Yes they did. http://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/sport/gaa/articles/2013/08/14/4017130-proposed-cusack-park-stand-makeover-to-cost-35-million/

€3.5 million it says in the report
Looks like Syfín is going to have to use the Hyde like the rest of us for many a year yet.

Given the recommendations of the FR report it looks like even the county board isn't going to be using the Hyde for many a year yet.

Cake certainly has set a cat amongst the Ros Gaels/Hyde pidgeons if the Duke's rebuke in the People is anything to go by. Perhaps if those with the power to change things realise they are not indispensable we might get somewhere.

[moysider]

Lads I can't see how a shared centre of excellence would be able to cope with demand. I think it's a fine idea in principle but know how hard it is to get into the training facility in thurles during the spring, summer and even autumn. Factor in U14, U15, U16, U17 along with minor, intermediates/juniors and U21 and seniors. Now multiply by 2 for hurling and football. Now multiply by 2 again for 2 counties.

It's dicey enough negotiating with different squads in your own county for slots, never mind a county in competition with you!

Sure Prentys palace in Bekan is suppose to cater for all counties in Connacht.

Good one. We both know "our lads" have been in limbo for nigh-on two decades.

Looks like someone didn't attend or even read the info from our last meeting.

Oh I read it. And everyone has heard the talk of ''progress'' and their ideas for such and such ''when the ownership issue is resolved''. It's utterly meaningless at this point until something happens and you're being very naive if you think otherwise.

The fact is neither the Connacht Council or Croke Park will touch the Hyde with a barge poll until we actually own it and even then it doesn't solve the reality of how much money it will take to fix a crumbling stadium. Whatever figure ends up being quote you can lop at least a few more million on top of it because how many times can your remember work on a major stadium coming in under quotation?

We're at a crossroads and we need to think long and hard where we should go before it's too late. If nothing more Cake's idea has opened the floor for ideas that go beyond ploughing ahead trying to wrestle the Hyde from Ros Gaels.

Hmmm... so Hyde belongs to Ros. Gaels? If so that makes things messy.

But I honestly think there should be a pitch in the middle of the country. The new Croke Park is already looking old and is a bitch to get into, and the crowds during the Summer seem to piss off the locals, and God knows what Garda resources are caught up in this ever weekend, every Summer. The attending  traffic chaos cant be justified. Should have sold it to Tesco or whoever 20 years ago. I ve been to Croke Parke a few times  and it's not like the location has much charm. It's a mess.
Said it at the time, and I still believe, that revamping Croke Park was a bad move. A greenfield site around Athlone was the way to go and do it right. And do not give me the historical/ home of football shite. Most people don t have a clue about Michael Hogan, Bloody Sunday etc. Few seems to know who Davin was in the Hill 16/Davin roofless venture.

A survey of where Hill 16 and where the name comes from would be an interesting survey of all ages around the country.

[larryin89]

Davin in the hill?

The canal end is the Davin.

Hill16 is dinneen , the man who bought croker originally, see willie joes blog latest post.

The infrastructure would not be in athlone to hold all Ireland finals or even a lot of semis.

[Rossfan]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

[moysider]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

Mayo? Honoured for his work with the travelling community?

[Lar Naparka]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

Right, horse, I'm calling yer bluff!
You tell me first what you know about Nally and I'll fill in the blanks for you.
Go ahead and for frig's sake, go easy on them damn smileys- cyber diarrhoea!

[Rossfan]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

Right, horse, I'm calling yer bluff!
You tell me first what you know about Nally and I'll fill in the blanks for you.
Go ahead and for frig's sake, go easy on them damn smileys- cyber diarrhoea!

Moysider is the only one with smileys on this page.
Good to see one of ye heard of Nally - Land Leaguer, IRBite, Athlete, encouraged Cusack ... died early.

[Lar Naparka]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

Right, horse, I'm calling yer bluff!
You tell me first what you know about Nally and I'll fill in the blanks for you.
Go ahead and for frig's sake, go easy on them damn smileys- cyber diarrhoea!

Moysider is the only one with smileys on this page.
Good to see one of ye heard of Nally - Land Leaguer, IRBite, Athlete, encouraged Cusack ... died early.

Moysider is what?
Poor Moy only stuck one in his post and that was just to smarten you up; whereas you planted five in yer one before that!
At least one of us has heard of Nally okay and he also knows when a Rossie is bluffing about the poor hoor.
YOU can find a biteen about him here  and another biteen about him there just so you don't get caught out if ever that great man's name crops up again.
PS. There's assloads more if you really want to know what yer talking about.

(Sorry..couldn't help that!)

[Rossfan]

Not up to me to be promoting famous Mayoites.
I was simply expressing my amazement at how twp rhubarbs were blathering about the names of areas of Croke Park and didn't mention one of their own.
Ya have to use a lot of them smilies on this Board due to the amount of our Ulster fellow countrymen as they seem to have a difficulty in spotting humour.

[moysider]

Are ye Rhubarbs not  aware of the Nally Terrace?? or of who he was or came from...... sadly shakes head...

Right, horse, I'm calling yer bluff!
You tell me first what you know about Nally and I'll fill in the blanks for you.
Go ahead and for frig's sake, go easy on them damn smileys- cyber diarrhoea!

Moysider is the only one with smileys on this page.
Good to see one of ye heard of Nally - Land Leaguer, IRBite, Athlete, encouraged Cusack ... died early.

Oh, that Nally!

[Lone Shark]

Honestly, I think there will never be a more suitable set of circumstances to try and put together something like this. I can see a myriad of benefits, and the only reasons not to are petty historical ones.

(1) First of all, in terms of county grounds, both Cusack Park and Dr Hyde Park are utterly outdated, uncomfortable and unfit for purpose. Access, space and press/broadcasting facilities are all woefully inadequate in Mullingar, while the Hyde is just a disaster in every way. A stand you need binoculars to see the field from, by far the worst playing surface of any of the county grounds I've seen and probably not in the top ten playing surfaces in the county of Roscommon, ownership issues that hamper any notion of development and toilet facilities that would struggle with any crowd over and above a county final number. There is no reason to hold on to either ground, other than history and tradition.

(2) If there was one shared ground that could cater for the big games, it would be easy to play smaller games at the other end of the county. It wouldn't take a lot for Orchard Park in Elphin or St Lomans grounds in Mullingar to be upgraded to a level that they could take crowds of up to 3,000 people under lights, which would be suitable for WH hurling, under-21 games, minor games, club games etc. Then any county board interest in Dr Hyde and Cusack Park as an entity could be sold to help finance the new development.

(3) In a modern era when so many county teams have players based in Dublin, Athlone is easy to access. Far easier than north Ros and at least as easy as Mullingar or North Westmeath. Much more suitable for training.

(4) I'd take AZ's point re: demand for facilities at a centre of excellence, but surely it could be built big enough to cater for the likely level of traffic from both sides? If it would cost X to build a centre capable of catering for one county, I can't imagine it would cost 2X to build one capable of catering for two, there must be economies of scale in there.

(5) If the facility is of value to other sports and a return can be generated in that way, then great. With the Athletics facilities already in place in AIT, there must be come way of creating a sporting hub in the town that would lead to spin off revenue.


Here in Offaly, we know all about being hamstrung by history - and while I don't want to send this discussion off on a tangent, but a quick google on hurling in Tullamore vs hurling in Birr would enlighten you on this. However it's all very well to talk about All Irelands in Whites Field and famous league matches in the 1970s, but eventually you have to move on and look at what's best for the future, rather than what solution tips a cap to the past. 

There will be a real first mover advantage here - the first Stadium custom built for this type of purpose will make a killing. It might be Athlone, it might be Louth and Meath working together around Drogheda, it might be somewhere on the M7/M9, but it has to be a logical way to progress and if the county boards are willing to stop being held hostage by history, Westmeath and Ros are the ideal partners for a project like this in my opinion.

[Rossfan]

It is simply only one man's opinion in a Newspaper piece - not any type of concrete proposal from anyone in the GAA, any other Sport, moneymen, commercial interests etc.
I for one will not attend any Ros GAA fixtures in such a far away place.