Standoff escalates as GAA order Handball Board to vacate centre

THE standoff between the GAA and the Dublin Handball Board has escalated with the news that Croke Park has asked for the handball centre adjacent to Hill 16 to be vacated before the end of the month.

Vinny Farrelly, Chairman of the Dublin Handball Board said it was impossible to negotiate with the GAA after the request was sent to the Irish Handball Council.

It was also claimed that the notice “flew in the face of comments made in the national press to the effect that the recent loss of the bar licence in the Croke Park Handball Centre would in no way adversely affect the future of handball there.”

At a recent meeting Farrelly said: “We know exactly the intention of the GAA, it is to totally and fully take the centre off us.”

Dorothy Collins, barrister for the Handball Centre campaign, said: “They have a strong case and will be working hard to get a sporting 35-year lease on the premises.”

Solicitor Tony Fay added: “It was wrong for the GAA to be trying to take away one of the few facilities in the area.” Fay added they must “keep the gun powder dry” and “look to the courts to put matters right.”

Farrelly is optimistic about taking on the GAA legally and beating them in the courts. Within a week and a half of the campaign, €50,000 had been raised for future legal requirements.

“PCT (Páirc an Chrócaigh Teoranta - the stadium’s management company) have stated that their concerns regarding the handball centre are safety related and yet they have consistently refused to offer financial assistance to use the Sports Council grant to make the facility safe.

“Once we get the lease, we will not be put out. We need the community to stick together. The GAA are a massive organisation with a cosy relationship with the media.”

O’ Brien said that the time for duplicity was over. “We will teach the GAA who are the fools. No matter what it takes, sweat and tears, we will get possession of the centre.”

There are plans to construct a brand new state-of-the-art handball centre elsewhere in the environs of the stadium though the completion of such a project would take between three to five years.

Where major competitions would be played in the meantime is a major source of concern for all in the handball community. Use of the current centre may still be permitted, though under the control of the Irish Handball Board or even the PCT or GAA instead.

The current centre is as much a social hub as it is a sporting one however and the campaign to retain the status quo has been backed by a number of politicians - Tony Gregory and Joe Costello among them.