O’Neill’s grounds selling concern

LEINSTER COUNCIL chairman Liam O’Neill has expressed concern at the number of clubs and county boards seeking to cash in on existing grounds in favour of a move away from city and town centres.

Portlaoise GAA Club received permission from the association to sell their premises on the Stradbally Road earlier this year and both Westmeath and Kildare are considering the benefits of selling Cusack Park and St Conleth’s Park respectively.

Clare and Kerry are also contemplating similar moves but O’Neill believes that each initiative should be judged on an individual basis.

“We have our very impressive property portfolio because of the vision and hard work of our predecessors,” said O’Neill in yesterday’s Croke Park programme notes.

“Most of those fields are now valuable pieces of property and many of our clubs are being offered what appears to be good money for them in return for better facilities out on the outskirts of towns.

“Some of those offers are genuinely good and will be of benefit to us in the long term but I am worried that some of the deals may not be in our best interests. I am slow to approve of leaving prime positions in our towns and villages and moving further out simply for better facilities.”

Portlaoise’s move was given the green light because the club were moving a mile further out the road to a site that is within the town’s present boundaries.

The club have also plans to operate a shuttle service for children that will allow them maintain their present underage structure and keep the lifeblood of the club healthy in the future.

O’Neill however believes that the optimum situation for most clubs is to maintain their current presence in the heart of their communities.

“We may gain better facilities but unless we are located close to where people live we won’t have children taking advantage of these new facilities. There was an old saying years ago, when fairs were common, that if you wanted to sell your goods you were to be ‘i lar an Aonaigh, in the middle of the fair.

“Where there is a concentration of people was always considered the best place to showcase goods. So too with our facilities and I think we should approach every sale with caution and ensure that we make the right choice.”

The Laois native believes that there is a precedent to show that his views are worth consideration. Had things been different, Croke Park could have fallen to the bulldozers back in the ‘90s.

“The property developers know that the prime factor in property value is location and we would do well to remember that too. Short-term gain may be very costly in the long term.

“It might serve us well to look at what happened here in this stadium as an example of what I am saying. When the redevelopment of this stadium was first mooted many thought a move to the fringes of the city was the best thing to do.

“Thankfully we decided to stay in our home and develop the world-class facility we now have. We are still very much ‘i lar an Aonaigh’ on this site and going from strength to strength.”