GAA ground delays won’t scupper Rugby World Cup bid, insists Páraic Duffy

GAA Director General Paraic Duffy says Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid will not be impacted by ongoing concerns over two of the Association’s stadia which will host games should the competition come here.

Crucial to the IRFU’s bid to stage the competition is the GAA’s decision to allow stadia in Dublin, Belfast, Thurles, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Castlebar to be used as part of a bid worth €250m to the economy.

The World Cup would also mean a serious windfall for Croke Park through rent of its properties — the GAA previously earned €36m in rental income from the IRFU and FAI between 2007 and 2010.

To get there, however, much work is needed on the GAA’s homes in both Belfast and Cork. Planned redevelopments of both have been stalled. Casement Park in Belfast lies in an overgrown state and there have been many twists and turns in the lifespan of the proposed £77m rejuvenation project in west Belfast. It has been plagued with problems and delays, including safety concerns and issues with local residents.

Meanwhile, work on Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been held up due to an EU investigation. However, Duffy says both projects will come good and will be a huge help to the IRFU bid.

“At central level, we have pumped €20m into Cork and £15m sterling into Casement so we’ve invested hugely,” he said.

“Cork will be OK,” the DG confirmed. “The project hasn’t been challenged; it has just been held up because it requires state funding of €30m and that requires approval from the EU. That is taking time but it will be fine and Cork will proceed. In fact, we’re hoping to get it finished some time next year. That’s a big ask but that’s the aim.

“Casement is trickier,” Duffy admits. “Once again we have applied for planning and the commitment is still in place to go ahead — there is a huge effort in Ulster to make sure it goes ahead, but we have challenges there that we have not met in Cork. Having said that, I’d be absolutely confident it will be built, albeit not by the time it was supposed to have been.

“We will be applying for planning permission in the third quarter of this year and after the judicial review (won by residents against the plans for redevelopment) we learned huge lessons. But it is crucial to be there with top class stadia in our three main cities. We are the biggest sporting organisation in the land and we have to have that presence.”

Meanwhile, the GAA could also boost its income with a more competitive marketplace looming for the next round of broadcast rights.

Last time out the GAA took heat for the presence of Sky in the market, but Congress oversaw an overwhelming decision not to block the broadcaster from entering the negotiations this time around.

“There are many people in the GAA who have misgivings about pay per view stations being involved. There is broad support for it too,” Duffy says.

“I think the Congress vote was more delegates saying they didn’t want to tie the hands of the GAA when we go to negotiate with broadcasters next time around. One thing I find strange, though, is before we allowed Sky broadcast our games we had league games broadcast by Setanta for years and no one ever said we were in breach of anything. Was that because Setanta is an Irish station? If people feel we shouldn’t broadcast our games on a paid channel, I find it strange that for years we did that on Setanta and there was nothing about it.”

Next time out, RTÉ, Sky Sports, Eir/Setanta Sports, TV3 and TG4 will all attempt to be major players in the market and that is music to the ears of the GAA.

“We need as many people as possible interested,” Duffy admitted. “We need that competition as our income from the broadcast rights is hugely important to us; a massive part of our revenue stream.”