The Croke Park Residents Association has written to the Queen asking her to intervene in the groups' ongoing dispute with the GAA.

Jones Road bosses are at loggerheads with the local Residents Association over plans to redevelop their local community and handball centre.

Solicitors for Croke Park, Reddy Charlton McKnight issued a termination letter to the Secretary of the Irish Handball Centre on St Joseph's Avenue in February, ordering them to vacate the premises and remove their belongings.

Eamon O'Brien, Chairman of the Croke Park Streets Committees, explained that: "Rather than oppose the Queens visit we have chosen to use her visit to highlight our cause and the Croke Park GAA's hypocrisy in advocating good community relations while at the same time sending an eviction notice to our community."

The letter to the Queen, dated 10 May, from the Croke Park Streets Committee is as follows:

Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II,
Buckingham Palace,
London SW1A 1AA, United Kingdom

10th May 2011

Your Majesty,

As your majesty will be visiting our community shortly, and being aware of your family's expressed interest in promoting good community relations, may we ask a small favour of you?

In particular when visiting our community you will be calling at Croke Park, headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). Historically the GAA has been a strongly Irish Nationalist sporting association set up some years after the 'great famine' in Ireland with the goal of energising local communities and helping in the fight against landlordism at a time when evictions were commonplace.

Indeed as an association, and up until recently, the GAA would have been unlikely to have extended to a member of the British Royal family a warm welcome on visiting their headquarters in Croke Park. However in these changing times in the relationship between our peoples we now believe that your majesty is regarded with deep affection by many in GAA Headquarters, unlike their attitude to our local community, and it is in this regard that we hope your majesty may be able to be of some great assistance.

Despite our community enduring great inconvenience and hardship during the many major events hosted in Croke Park, that has helped Croke Park to report income of over €58 million in successive years, Croke Park officials have now sent an eviction notice to our Community & Handball Centre members, copy enclosed. This Centre is a vital asset to our local community that has invested almost €4 million in its development and maintenance over the last 40 years. There is huge opposition to this attempted eviction by Croke Park, and Croke Park's proposed alternative development has been opposed by all 17 local politicians and 10 residents committees representatives at a recent national planning authority oral hearing. I include a copy of our Newsletter that shows how vital an asset this Centre is to our community.

Your Majesty we would be very grateful if you could let the Croke Park GAA officials, that you may happen to meet, know that you are aware of our plight and that it would be only right that we be treated with the same respect and decency that such as Arsenal's stadium officials treat their local community.

While Croke Park officials have instructed other GAA communities not to comment on your visit this does not affect us and we trust your majesty will not mind our asking for your assistance in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Eamon O'Brien.
Chairman, Croke Park Streets Committees. Tweet

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