Why did Croke Park turn its back on the auld sod?

GAA administrators at Croke Park obviously do not know much about basic agronomy, which is understandable, and still less about the organisation’s distinguished history, which is unforgivable.

When Casement Park, Belfast, was being dedicated nearly 60 years ago, some hallowed clay from the Republic was brought in and scattered on the pitch.

This was deemed prudent — just in case anybody had any doubts about the real provenance and authenticity of the Fourth Green Field.

Now the GAA finds it is necessary to bring sports turf from Scunthorpe and agronomists from Britain to resurface Croke Park.

Apparently, the GAA has invented a new version of bringing coals to Newcastle. This is all very surprising for a variety of reasons:

1. Currently we are hosting the richest football club, and the most expensive footballer in the world in Co Kildare.

One of the reasons why Real Madrid choose Carton House, Maynooth? After extensive research, they found the hotel boasts the finest football pitches in Europe.

2. Racehorse trainers like Aidan O’Brien, John Oxx, Jim Bolger, et al know a thing or two about ground suitability for high-performing and high-value equine athletes,

They are unlikely to recommend that the Curragh racecourse — or any of their gallops — be re-turfed a la the GAA’s Croke Park model

3. Irish agronomists and soil scientists have excellent international experience and a unique reputation. They were the first to “green” the Arabian deserts in the mid-1970s. There, they developed and perfected cutting-edge agricultural systems on the most barren of desert sands and under the most inhospitable plant-growing conditions imaginable.

The agricultural enterprises they established under such conditions are now among the most productive and most successful in the world.

4. Irish agronomists and soil scientists are now also prominent in reclaiming and rehabilitating agricultural lands throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union. After 80 years of state farming mismanagement and abuse, the condition of these lands and soils is almost beyond rehabilitation. Relative to this work, re-turfing Croke Park would be a piece of cake.

5. If imported cement was used in the construction of the excellent stands and other facilities at Croke Park, we would have had an outcry from Seán Quinn, CRH, IBEC, ICTU, et al — and rightly so.

However, it beggars belief that the powers-that-be in Croke Park do not know or understand, or appreciate, these facts.

Brendan Dunleavy B Agr Sc (International Agronomist)

Snakeel

Killeshandra

Co Cavan