Clare GAA won't be able to proceed with the development of a 200-space car park beside Cusack Park until a Japanese knotweed problem is dealt with.

Work has already commenced on the €2.3 million redevelopment of the county grounds in Ennis, but Banner chiefs will have to wait until 2020 to begin work on the €550,000 car-park, which would have raised much-needed revenue, due to the infestation of the knotweed plant, which can grow through concrete and tarmac.

The problem was discovered about a year ago and a Northern Ireland-based company has been working to bring it under control.

"It's an area of ground that we were going to be put a car park into, but we can't do that now until the Japanese Knotweed is fully eradicated," Clare chairman Michael McDonagh told the Irish Examiner.

"We have to take the proper time to do it. The advice we've got is that if you just dig it up or ignore it or build over it, it's basically infectious and will spread.

"People mightn't have heard of it, but it's quite a big problem and I believe it's fairly serious in the UK. The bottom line for us is that we're not going to put in any car park until we have it cleared in full."

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