Grounds for change
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THERE has been a lot of talk and debate about whether the Association should display its magnificent stadium and spectator facilities to the rest of the world by allowing sports followers and players of other games, who are representing our country, to avail of our asset while awaiting the development of Lansdowne Road.
There are financial experts in the GAA who would ensure that the price would be at market value for any hiring of our facilities. That income would be used for many purposes, but it would be to support the work of Cumann Luthcleas Gael and nothing else.
It is worth noting also that many of the people that support these sports are members of Cumann Luthcleas Gael. If there is ever a request that Croke Park be hired out for international events it should be looked at in a reasonable way and be given favourable consideration - provided that it is for a limited period only.
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AS I said at our county convention a few weeks ago, I would be very much in favour of handing the power on Rule 42 to Central Council. I don’t have any really strong views on when it should or shouldn’t be opened after that. That would be a matter for the Central Council.
What I would like to see happening is that the revenue generated from renting out the ground be all given back to the counties to use as they see fit. That would be my one stipulation.
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THE fact that we have brought a motion forward on it before and that it was passed unanimously at our recent county convention would indicate that we are in favour of it. I would be even more in favour of it since the President has come out and spoke of the possible benefits that we could accrue from it.
I would be adamant that a certain percentage of the money brought in from opening up Croke Park would be set aside for things like schools and coaching. That would be imperative.
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NATIONAL interests demand that Croke Park is made available for our rival codes during the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road. Having thousands of our supporters travelling abroad for our ‘home’ internationals will create the negative result of millions of euro flooding out of the country.
In addition, the Irish economy will lose the benefit of this inflow of funds from visiting teams, supporters and media. The extra revenue generated from this gesture should be ring-fenced to promote our games at underage level nationally.
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YOU have to take into consideration the views of everyone. There are two sides to every argument and we’ve tried to assuage people’s fears with our motion, which calls for Central Council to have the authority to open Croke Park to other sports for the period while Lansdowne Road is under construction.
It would be a national tragedy if our international soccer and rugby teams, which are both riding high at the moment, had to play home matches outside the country. What happens regarding the use of Croke Park after that period can be up for discussion again.
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I REALISE that Croke Park has never been looked for by any other organisation but, with Landsowne Road being redeveloped at the end of 2005, it will be closed for some years. Why cannot we look at Rule 42 and maybe offer the use of the grounds to the FAI and the IRFU during that period? It would bring many people into Croke Park who have never frequented the grounds and they would, in my opinion, return to watch our games.
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I HAVE NO strong views on the matter at all. I would have no great difficulty with the idea of Croke Park being opened up for the use of other sports. There has been a number of different motions but all I would prefer is that Central Council be given the authority to make the decision.
It’s hard to know if it will go through at Congress. People thought it would a few years ago too with the tight vote, and then it didn’t get near that the year after. I do believe that if there was a vote of the entire GAA membership the motion to change Rule 42 would definitely go through.
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WHEN will the media stop bullying the GAA?
We are capable of making our own decisions. We are constantly being told Croke Park is the National Stadium paid for in a large part by the taxpayer and that rugby and soccer players have a right to play there.
As I see it, the only right involved is that of the GAA to use its property as it sees fit. Croke Park is the GAA’s special place.
It is the greatest marketing tool we have for our two wonderful indigenous sports.
The feel good factor has filtered down to the local communities and clubs who have put their own field of dreams in place in every parish in the country.
However, at this particular time rugby and soccer have a problem and I’m not so blind as not to see that we in the GAA can help.
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I wouldn’t have any problem with Croke Park being opened up for the period while Lansdowne Road is being developed.
We passed a motion on it ourselves in Laois recently and it went through unanimously.
I’m quite happy to give Central Council the authority to make the decision on this. The fact of the matter is, it will barely be an issue at all once Lansdowne Road is redeveloped anyway.
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WE didn’t discuss it at the county convention because it’s something we want to give proper attention to as it is such a big issue.
We passed a motion last time to open Croke Park up and whatever way we decide this time it’ll be through the same process. We’ll put it to the clubs, we’ll vote on it and then we’ll go from there.
I feel a temporary motion to hand the powers to Central Council while Lansdowne Road is being developed is the way to go. The IRFU and the FAI are in need of our help at the moment and we’re all sporting organisations and we should back one another up.
It wouldn’t be right to see those teams playing home matches for Ireland abroad.
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I’M not too keen on any change to be honest. We have enough games to be trying to fit in at Croke Park as it is. We had a situation there this season where our minors didn’t get the chance to play their All-Ireland semi-final there, which we were all very disappointed about. Let’s take care of our own first.
I don’t know that soccer or rugby are that interested in playing there anyway. We had a similar situation a few years ago after the Omagh bombing when it was reported that the county board had refused the use of our grounds to play a charity game against Liverpool. We had never been approached about it at all, in fact, and Omagh Town told us they didn’t ask for it when we contacted them.
You hear a lot of arguments from both sides from people around the county and the country. Things like these other sports paying players, whereas the GAA uses their cash to develop grounds. Not all these arguments stand up to scrutiny, it must be said, but that’s what people are saying. That’s how some people feel.
You could do a thesis on the whole issue by now. What everyone wants is for people to sit around a table, discuss it from every angle and make a decision. Once that is done, we should all accept it and move on. It’s been going on too long at this stage.
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IT’S very simple for people in Monaghan, this debate. We have eight or ten inter-county teams here and none of them have yet played in the new Croke Park. I’d rather see them play there first than other sports being allowed in. There’s a lot of reasonable arguments on all sides but money isn’t one of them. Talk of the GAA earning a figure like €12million or whatever in rent over the few years Lansdowne is closed is academic. It’s a moral issue, not a financial one, for me.
I heard a well-known journalist tell a story about how he was from farming stock and how, at harvest time, they would all club together and help one another out. That’s all very well, but what if your neighbour hasn’t worked as hard as you have? It’s not for me to be criticising other sports and what they do, but all this pressure has been put on the GAA and what have these other sports been doing? Don’t get me wrong, I have a good deal of sympathy for them but the reality is that they haven’t been able to come up with a stadium yet between the two of them.
One sport is giving out a lot of money to players in wages, we don’t do that. All our money goes back into development. We have a superb stadium and a grass roots structure with excellent facilities that is far deeper than either of them. Soccer and rugby have a long way to go before they can match that. I would like everyone to sit down and talk this through from all angles but I would still disagree with opening Croke Park, even on a temporary basis.
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I WOULDN’T like to be giving my own personal opinion on the subject but the view of the Down county board is that we do not want to see Rule 42 abolished.
I think it is highly unlikely that there will be the two-thirds majority that is needed to get rid of Rule 42.
They will be lucky to get a majority at all, I feel.
If it was a case of a change being made for a one-off case, then there might be a bit more sympathy for it and it might well indeed get the two-thirds majority.
If it was a case of the European Championships being played here and they wanted to play four games in Croke Park, then you would have to look at it again.
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I WOULDN’T be in favour of changing Rule 42 as it stands at all.
I think Rule 42 has stood the test of time until now and nothing has happened to make me change my mind on that. I wouldn’t be in favour of Central Council being given the power to decide on whether to open up Croke Park or not either.
As far as I’m concerned, Congress is the supreme body of the Association and it should be for Congress to decide on this.
That said, I wouldn’t object to a full-scale discussion on the whole thing.
The whole debate has gone on far too long and, at this stage, it’s almost like a case of the tail wagging the dog.
Let’s resolve this one way or another once and for all.
Let’s put it to bed.
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OUR own county board agreed to submit a motion that the GAA should offer Croke Park to the FAI for home internationals while Lansdowne Road is being redeveloped. Personally, I would not have been in favour of that motion but I am a great believer in democracy.
How the FAI conduct their business is entirely their affair as far as I am concerned. They have, to their credit, in the not too distant past enjoyed some very high profile years.
While one would imagine the revenue streams were lucrative within the past decade, the potential to fund a major stadium should have been very possible. It’s high time we grasped the nettle, allowed the debate on Rule 42 and, whatever the outcome, put things to bed once and for all. Call me conservative, but I’d be for keeping the facility for the use of our own members.
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PEOPLE are concerned with all sorts of issues and I doubt very much if the prospect of making money from renting Croke Park to other sports will weigh very heavily. The GAA will be able to pay for Croke Park from its own resources over a period of years.
The thing is, I have until next April to make up my mind on this. Right now, were I to vote ‘yes’ at all it would be for a very limited period only while Landsdowne Road is being redeveloped.
I would like to listen to all angles and voices on it, but all I could be certain of would e voting yes only for some limited period of time.
