The new Hill 16 and Nally End terrace in Croke Park was officially opened today by the President of the GAA Mr Sean Kelly, in the presence of An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern TD. The terrace is the fourth and final phase in the redevelopment of Croke Park and its completion has ensured that the Stadium, with an official capacity of 82,300, is among the largest and most sophisticated in Europe. Since the first All Ireland finals were played on the site of the current stadium in 1896, Croke Park has become imprinted on the national conscience and is a site of much cultural and historic significance. Bought by the GAA in 1913, the venue was named in honour of Archbishop TW Croke of Cashel, who was the first patron of the Association. At the Northern End of the ground, the Hill 16 terrace was first built in 1917 using rubble from the 1916 rising. Ironically the bank was first known as Hill 60, after a World War 1 battle site in France. In 1952, the Nally Stand was constructed alongside Hill 16 at the Northern end of the ground in honour of the Mayo born land league activist PW Nally. It remained in use until the All Ireland finals of 2002. The genesis of the redevelopment of Croke Park and Hill 16 in particular goes back two decades to 1983. At the All Ireland Football Final of that year there was a near tragedy in the grassy-sloped embankment that represented an outdated and increasingly dangerous Hill 16 terrace. Thus in 1987, the first redevelopment of the Old Hill began. It re-opened its gates for the All Ireland hurling final of 1988. With the completion of redevelopment work on the New Cusack, Hogan and Canal End stands work began on the New Hill 16 and Nally End terrace in October of 2003. The new terrace was partially in operation for the 2004 All Ireland hurling and football finals. Speaking at the official opening, the President of the GAA, Mr Sean Kelly said "Croke Park has been a sporting cathedral, a field of dreams for countless generations of our people. We are delighted that the Northern End of the ground has now been redeveloped to the same standards as the other areas. The stadium generally and indeed the new terrace could not of course have been developed to the existing scale without the support of our Clubs and the Irish business sector and without the significant support of the Government." Mr Kelly said that he was delighted that An Taoiseach could make time to be in Croke Park in one of his busiest weeks. He said that he knew that Hill 16 had a special significance for Mr Ahern who had watched more games than most from its particular cauldron of unique atmosphere. He also paid tribute to the constant presence and dynamism of the GAA's Director General Liam Mulvihill for driving the redevelopment and to Peter Quinn and the various elements of the Design team who ensured it's successful completion. He said that great credit is also due to Peter Mc Kenna who was Project Manager for the Northern End redevelopment. Hill 16 Project Management Team - The team included Chairman, former President Peter Quinn, GAA Director General, Liam Mulvihill, Project Manager was Croke Park Stadium Director, Peter McKenna. - Architects were Gilroy & McMahon (Des McMahon) - Structural Engineers were Horgan Lynch & Partners (Frank Murray) - Mechanical & Electrical Firm was Petits (Nick Penston) - Solicitors were Reddy Charlton & McKnight (Paul Keane) - Safety Consultants were MSA (Michael Slattery) Costs of Hill 16/Nally End The projected cost of Hill 16 was EUR27 million. The final cost was EUR21 million, realising a saving of EUR6 million. Overall Costs of Croke Park Redevelopment The overall cost has been EUR265 million. The current debt is EUR36 million. The project has been paid for through Government aided lottery funding of EUR90.5 million, allocated since 1994 and exchequer funding of EUR19.5 million to render the stadium ready and suitable to host the Special Olympics in 2003. The GAA has already expended EUR119 million from its own funds on the stadium. Current Imminent Works * Completion of 252 room Croke Park Hotel by end of August 2005. * Installation of large screen on Northern End in Summer 2005. * Completion of new players Lounge in dressing-room level 2005. The GAA President's speech went as follows:- The genesis of the redevelopment goes back to 1983 when there was a near disaster on Hill 16 at the Football Final. The Hill then was basically a grassy embankment punctuated by steps. Works on a new Hill started in 1987 and was ready for the All Irelands of 1988 - opened by my predecessor, the late John Dowling. We then had to look at the whole stadium and realised that urgent works were needed from a health and safety perspective to the Cusack Stand and the Canal End in particular. The choices were either piecemeal, costly ongoing works which would be ineffective, or a coherent overall integrated plan to redevelop the stadium to world-class standards. We chose the latter strategy with the promptings and direction of the Ard Stiúrthóir, Liam Mulvihill. A master plan was formulated using American and British design experts as stadium construction of this scale was unknown in Ireland. The design was then adopted and modified to Irish and GAA needs by the Irish Architectural Company, Gilroy & McMahon. A decision was taken by Central Council in the Presidency of Peter Quinn in 1992 to seek planning permission and work started as the Derry team were savouring their victory the day after the All Ireland Football Final of 1993. The Cusack Stand was opened by Jack Boothman in 1996, after which the Canal End and Hogan Stands were started and they were officially opened in 2003 by Seán McCague and An Taoiseach, B Ahern TD. The old Hogan Stand hosted its last All Ireland Final in 1999. Remarkably in the twelve years that works have been in progress we continued to play our games programme with the capacity never dipping below 60,000. We thus maintained cash flow and a reasonable capacity for our supporters. The complexities of that strategy cannot be underestimated. Neither should the other different challenges that required to be met. The acquisition of the Belvedere Pitch from the Jesuits, the Canal End car park, the myriad of other issues involving planning, design and construction. The total cost of the Croke Park project is ?265 million and the capacity is now 82,300. Hill 16/Nally End has accounted for ?21 million, (it was completed ?6 million below budget) providing a terrace with a capacity of 13,000 and with associated facilities comparable with any of the stands. The reasons that we decided to proceed with the Hill 16 project included (a) the demand that exists for terrace facilities, (b) the means to provide low admission, particularly for younger people and students, (c) the unique atmosphere which a terrace provides and (d) the aesthetic and historic significance of the Hill to so many people, particularly followers of the Sky Blue. COSTS: We have received ?90.5 million lottery funding and ?19.5 million exchequer funding in Government aid for which we are grateful. This is broken down as follows: - 1994 ?6.3 million - 1998-2000 ?25.5 million - 2001 ?19.5 million - 2002 ?19.5 million for the Special Olympics - 2004 ?40 million. Starting Hill 16 in 2003 was a brave and daunting decision because it brought our total borrowings close to ?98 million. This required a further leap of faith by our Central Council and also our Banks. Fortunately with prudent and effective financial management, the help of Government Lottery funding, the resale of corporate facilities in the Cusack, saving ?6 million on the Hill 16 budget our borrowings are now down to a manageable ?36 million. Design Team This was led overall by Liam Mulvihill, Director General, who was the driving force in terms of the concept and implementation of the master plan. Peter Quinn, former President, held the reins of the financial management of the project, which has brought us to the healthy financial situation that we are in today. The Architects were the well known based Dublin architectural firm, Gilroy & McMahon, with Des McMahon (former Tyrone footballer) playing a central hands on role. They designed a building described amongst other things as "redefining the Dublin skyline" and "a cathedral in the sky". The structural engineers were Horgan & Lynch, who have done much work for the GAA. The principals are Michael Horgan and Frank Murray, two sons of Cork. The contractors for the totality of the scheme from 1993 were John Sisks and the concrete works were done by Banagher Concrete from Offaly. It has been a mammoth job involving a great number of people, costing ?265 million. It has created not just a great stadium, but one of the country's great buildings, a monument to 20th century design, industry and vision which is already the catalyst in the rejuvenation of the whole North Inner City. Also thank Dublin City Council, without whose direction, advice and assistance the project would not have been realised. In particular, Mr. John Fitzgerald, City Manager, Mr. Sean Carey, Assistant City Manager and John Murphy, the Planning Officer, who oversaw the project. Gratitude is also owed to the Croke Park area Residents Association for their patience and understanding. I would like in particular to thank the former Chairman of CPARA, Mr. Senan Turnbull and all the current members of the joint Residents Associations in the general catchment area and current Chairman, Patrick Gates. It is a tribute to their cooperation and support that there were no objections to the first three phases and no official objection from CPARA to the Northern End project being opened today. Thanks in particular An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, his Minister for Sport, John O' Donoghue, former Ministers for Finance, Charlie McCreevy and current Minister, Brian Cowen. Without the assistance of the Government it would have been very difficult to complete the redevelopment to the standard achieved. Everybody in the GAA, future generations of players and supporters owe your vision and commitment an inestimatable debt. Other Projects in Progress/Proposed Croke Park Hotel - the 252-bedroom hotel will be completed for this year's All Ireland Finals. New Players Lounge - this will be completed in the dressing room area later in the summer. Permanent Big Screen - this will be installed in the next year. Tweet

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