Slate now wiped clean, says Kelly

TWO years after the Government reneged on part of its promised grant aid for the Croke Park redevelopment, the GAA have obtained a cast-iron guarantee that they will receive €40 million over the next two years.

Welcoming the news yesterday, Association President Sean Kelly described it as “wiping the slate clean”.

Expressing the GAA’s gratitude, he paid tribute to outgoing Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy and Sports Minister John O’Donoghue for the part they had played.

With €20m to be paid over this year and the balance in 12 months - on specified dates - Mr Kelly said the immediate effect would be to allow them to reduce borrowings, running at around the €100m mark.

In real terms it will mean a saving of approximately €2.4m annually.

Revealing he had advance notice of the grant, Mr Kelly said it had arisen following discussions with Mr O’Donoghue and Mr McCreevy in recent months.

“They both worked together to try to meet a commitment which they felt had been there for some time. Obviously the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other members of the Government had to give the okay as well.”

According to Mr Kelly, Mr McCreevy had been “very fair and up front” in their discussions. A sum of €38m was outstanding and he didn’t want to leave office with “this cloud hanging over him”.

“He does so now with a clean slate, having fulfilled all his commitments. The GAA are very grateful to him for rectifying a situation we felt needed to be rectified,” Mr Kelly added.

In April 2001, on the eve of annual Congress, the Government announced that they were committed to grant-aid of £45m for the Croke Park project over the next three years. They also promised a further £15m for the Northern (Hill 16) end, to have it ready in time for the Special Olympics last year. It led then President Sean McCague to declare that Croke Park would never be a financial burden on the Association.

The total grant of €70m was linked to GAA support for the building of a National Stadium, through a commitment to play a number of high-profile games there. However, in September 2002, following the decision to abandon the project, the Government announced that the balance of the grant, €38m, would not be paid but would have to be re-applied for. It was bad news for the GAA, who by then had committed extra funding to having the Hogan Stand section completed earlier than planned.

It also had implications for the timescale for the redevelopment of the Hill 16 end, now nearing completion, which will bring the capacity of the stadium to 82,000.

Last evening, Mr Kelly said both Mr O’Donoghue and Mr McCreevy appreciated that the GAA had been compromised in proceeding with the development on the understanding they would receive the full grant.

“They both made the point when we spoke last week, that we did commit ourselves to expenditure - which we mightn’t have otherwise - on the basis of commitments that had been given.

“They were conscious of that. They wanted to be sure that we would not be disadvantaged as a result of it.”

Saying that everything was now “hunky dory,” he stressed there was no question of the grant being “promised” or that it could be withdrawn or renegotiated.

“It’s signed and sealed, to be delivered on the dates agreed!”

A direct benefit from the reduction in borrowings will be to enable the Association to prioritise other projects aimed at developing the Association at club and county level which might otherwise have had to be deferred.

Mr Kelly said he would be having further discussions with the Government in the future in relation to the Association benefiting more from development grants allocated to all sporting bodies. Specifically, he wants the Government to treat hurling and football as separate entities.

“That’s a separate issue which we will be pursuing from now on,” he said.

lThere is no question of public funding being linked to a change of policy by the GAA in relation to the use of Croke Park for other sports. This has never been an issue, even though the Tánaiste at one stage suggested that funding - in this case lottery grants - should be conditional on the stadium being opened up.