Meath GAA's ingenuity applauded for securing special Páirc Tailteann funding

The €400,000 in funding was raised via a ‘donation’ through the Irish Immigrant Investor Programme

Computer image of the proposed redevelopment of Páirc Tailteann in Navan, Co Meath.

Meath officials have been praised for their ingenuity after securing an initial €400,000 in funding for the redevelopment of Páirc Tailteann through a special government investment programme.

Meath GAA chairman John Kavanagh confirmed that the figure was raised via a 'donation' through the Irish Immigrant Investor Programme, set up by the government in 2012 to encourage foreign investment and to stimulate employment.

The endowment scheme allows for non-European Economic Area nationals to invest benevolently in an Irish public project benefiting the arts, sports, health, culture or education.

The scheme is strictly administered by the Department of Justice and facilitates non-EEA nationals, typically high net worth individuals, and their families to acquire residency status in Ireland.

Kavanagh said that while €400,000 has already been locked down by Meath they are attempting to process five separate investments in total adding up to a potential €2m, all of which will go towards the Navan stadium's redevelopment.

It's understood that Kildare are also considering the scheme to potentially raise funds for the redevelopment of St Conleth's Park in Newbridge while the Termon club in Donegal have already secured funding through the scheme.

"It is run through the Department of Justice and a lot of time and effort has gone into it, over quite a long period of time," said Meath chairman Kavanagh. "It wasn't today or yesterday that we started down this track, this is going back a significant period. The scheme facilitates non-EEA nationals and their families who commit to an approved investment to acquire residency in Ireland.

"We have had solicitors and a lot of professionals working on this. It's not a case that you just ring up and apply, there's a lot to get through. Everything goes through Croke Park too and it was nice to hear that they were impressed with the initiative taken on this.

"From our perspective, it's great that with finance tight at the minute we've managed to find another source of income instead of going back to the clubs looking for help."

Meath have planning permission since early 2018 for a 21,000-seater redevelopment of their Páirc Tailteann base.

The first phase of what will be a long-term plan is to complete a 4,000-7,000 capacity stand on the north terrace, opposite the current main stand, at a cost of between €12m and €13m.

It is hoped that work may begin later this year, or in early 2022, with an 18-24 timeline for completion.

In a further boost to the project, Kavanagh said that the €6.27m funding pledged in January of 2020 under the government's Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund — just weeks before the pandemic struck — remains in place.

But the €1.6m from Croke Park and €400,000 from the Leinster Council is less than hoped for and reflective of the financial hit taken by the GAA over the last year or so.

Kildare (€4.87m) and Waterford (€3.75) were also promised funding under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund and it remains to be seen if they and other units throughout the country choose to access the immigrant programme to raise further money.

"There's a very robust vetting process in place," said Kavanagh of the scheme. "Will others opt to use it? To be honest, I don't know but if it's there and people can benefit from it, more power to them. I don't mean to sound selfish but Meath is my only priority.

"We reported to our clubs on Monday night and were happy to give them that news. There's so much going on at the minute that clubs are all under pressure and to be able to tell them that money is coming in from elsewhere was great."