Meath GAA reveal Páirc Tailteann redevelopment to cost €26m

Construction of a brand-new 5,000 capacity all-seater stand is going to plan with next April pencilled in as the completion date

Pairc Tailteann redevelopment continues. Pic: Paula Greif, sportsaction.ie.

Meath GAA chiefs have revealed that the end cost of redeveloping Páirc Tailteann will be €26m - about €10m more than initial pre-Covid estimates.

Construction of a brand-new 5,000 capacity all-seater stand, to replace the previous 70-year-old structure, is going to plan with next April pencilled in by builders Sisk as the completion date.

The new stand will stretch from corner flag to corner flag, with a separate three-story development to the rear providing dressing-rooms, a medical centre, shop units, meeting spaces, sensory room and media facilities.

New floodlighting will also be installed, allowing the Brews Hill venue to host nighttime games for the first time since 2015.

Located next to the proposed rail station in Navan, the home of Meath GAA is at the centre of an area which is currently being considered by the county council for regeneration.

The late spring completion date means that Meath will play their home games in Division 1 of the National League in Croke Park for a second season running.

And while the stadium, with its 17,000 capacity, should be complete in April, inter-county fixtures aren't expected there until June.

Meath county board chair Jason Plunkett said a 'soft opening' involving some club games is likely for the first games at the ground since late 2025.

Former government minister Noel Dempsey is chair of the stadium redevelopment committee and gave an update on costs during a media tour of the site.

The project initially reached tender stage in 2020 with work due to begin that August - before the pandemic struck and costs subsequently soared.

"Total costs of everything is €26m," said Dempsey. "From the Immigrant Investor Programme we have earmarked €12.8m, we've €8.5m from the LSSIF (Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund), we have €2.6m already earmarked from the GAA, and a further €1.6m loan from them and there's €800,000 from Leinster Council.

Pairc Tailteann redevelopment continues. Pic: Paula Greif, sportsaction.ie.

"We've a loan then that the clubs are guaranteeing and paying through a levy, up to €2m. So it's a huge project. If we could have finished it when we were halfway through it before, it was €10m less."

On the plus side, the Covid delay allowed for a change of approach and construction of the new stand from the rear, meaning the pitch was left untouched.

The Páirc Tailteann surface, a sand-based Prunty pitch originally laid in the 1980s, won GAA Pitch of the Year in 2021 and 2023.

The stadium redevelopment team visited various sporting venues around Ireland before coming up with the current design and layout.

"In the early stages of this we went to Portlaoise, Tullamore, The Athletic Grounds in Armagh, Ravenhill, Wexford, Nowlan Park," said Dempsey. "It would be safe to say we took a little bit from each of them."

One of the eye-catching aspects of the design is that players will leave their dressing-rooms and enter the pitch via a tunnel, running beneath the main stand.

It will be similar to how players ascend a flight of steps to enter the Croke Park pitch from the Cusack Stand side dressing-rooms.

The money from the Immigrant Investor Programme, a scheme which officially closed to new applications in 2023, played a central role in funding the development.

"We were the first county GAA-wise to apply for it and to succeed in getting it," said former Transport Minister Dempsey. "A lot of people followed suit afterwards. It was huge, this wouldn't have happened without it."