Croker eye new opportunities

THE successful recent relaying of the Croke Park pitch could open the door for new commercial opportunities for GAA headquarters according to stadium director Peter McKenna.

The gamble in replacing the Croke Park surface in such a short period of time after the U2 concerts paid off when the pitch withstood the demands of the All-Ireland football quarter-final action and received widespread approval from the inter-county players involved.

With Croke Park facing the loss of rent cheques from rugby and soccer internationals when the Aviva Stadium opens next year, and income from conference business in the stadium also being reduced in the current economic climate, McKenna believes successfully laying a new pitch surface was a timely boost.

“What we have learned will allow us to do different things and hold different events, even during the winter. It says something about the association that such an audacious solution (tearing up the pitch and replacing it days later) could have been implemented, with all of the risks. It says huge positives about the GAA.

“We won’t see the chill financially until the tail end of 2010, but 2011 will be the year we have to get our ducks lined up in terms of replacement events. We are still budgeting to return €4m in dividends to the GAA every year for the next five to 10 years,” McKenna told the Sunday Times.

McKenna admits that the furore amongst local residents surrounding the late-night dismantling of the U2 stage is something the GAA will have to be conscious of when planning future events.

“In hindsight the 24-hour work-throughs were a big imposition on the local community, and we will be mindful of that when we are doing concerts in the future. We had been working on a system where the grass would be grown on stilts, so that a covering could have been put down and the grass could have grown beneath it. But the U2 stage was too heavy. It quite literally would have pushed our design into the ground.”

But McKenna insists that one of the sporting events that the GAA will not be pursuing to stage in Croke Park, is a Champions League final.

“It is now recognised as one of the great auditorium stadiums in the world, and a Champions League final would certainly give us international recognition. But it wouldn’t be the right direction for us to go. There is plenty we can achieve with our own games first.”

McKenna has also ruled out the GAA following in the footsteps of the IRFU and the FAI, and selling the stadium’s naming rights.

“We have been successful in maintaining a set of values and heritage. Croke Park is named after a particular person, you couldn’t really call it anything else. It would be just wrong. If I was asked for my opinion by the GAA regarding Croke Park, and my opinion mattered, I would say ‘no’. There are some things you shouldn’t sell, including your heritage and your value.”