Leave it in Clones.

Samsforthehills (Donegal) - Posts: 1075 - 17/10/2012 15:49:47    1284476

gotmilk
County: Fermanagh
Posts: 871

1284383
Garry I work in Omagh every few weeks and I have to say it's an awful town to get around. Car parking at the minute is a joke. Getting around the town is always a nussiance as well. I don't think it would be a great place for a stadium to accomadate the sort of numbers you are talking about.
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Shouldn't worry about it gotmilk, Fermanagh folk need not fret about getting to Ulster finals anytime soon!

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 17/10/2012 15:55:28    1284480

Good man lufty, always pleased to see Antrim folk broadening their horizons beyond the Westlink.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 17/10/2012 15:57:05    1284482

Sarcasm works as I got the reply I expected, you have just stated that you want to bring 40,000 people into a town with no emergency hospital within an hours drive. To run any major sporting events you need to follow the statutory legislation which include quick response time for ambulances in the case of emergency.

Not sarcasm just idiocy. Ambulances and medical personnell attend all major games and are on standby at the ground. Perhaps because you are from Antrim and have never attended a major game then you are unaware of this (it is well known that only a small minority of Antrim people attend GAA matches). Casement park holds up to 30,000 at the minute yet how many times is it full or even half full when Antrim are playing there? As for someone else talking about the bars and clubs in the area, these are all soccer clubs and in fact some of them are owned by 6 county soccer players so I wouldn't hold my breath about being allowed in with a GAA jersey.

Ballygawley would be a good site for a new stadium although I would still rather Clones and asy oul granda used to say "support your own people".

Tom1916 (Armagh) - Posts: 2001 - 17/10/2012 17:45:18    1284559

bumpernut
County: Antrim
Posts: 511

1284347 Yeah while we're at it could we not move Croke Park to Athlone as its more central and obviously thats the priority.

As others have said the decision has been made, coming on here whining about any and every grievance you have about Belfast aint gonna change anything.

As for it being a white elephant, believe it or not there are other competitions besides the USFC.
There will be plenty of important club games in hurling and football both from within Antrim and Ulster held in it, national league games possibly including semi finals and finals, compromise rules games and of course we havent yet mentioned camogie, womens football, and handball as there are handball courts being built. It will also be used for concerts and ive no doubt possibly used as a venue for the likes of rugby, if ireland were to get the world cup.

So yeah im sure itll sit dormant all year round, was that pink elephants mentioned??

Athlone would have been Ideal for Croke Park, Had there been the proper roads leading to it at the time of it's original building from all directions. Instead we have a scenario were all motorways in Ireland lead to Dublin, so naturally it is the best option.
I have no issue with Casement park being redevloped, as there are plenty of other GAA games on throughout the year as you pointed out. However I do have an issue with it being forced upon us all as the home of Ulster football, with no consultation with supporters.

As for all the excellent facilties available in Befast that some posters have pointed to, I don't disagree. But what that has to do with Gaelic matches? The majority of fans arrive an hour or so before the game, and depart immediately afterwards. Do you think they might pencil in the titanic quarters after the game? Unlikely, Plenty of other weekends throughout the year to do that.

And as the Fermanagh poster stated, Omagh is a nightmare at present. However with completion of a new dual carriageway which will run around the outskirts of Omagh will change that.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 17/10/2012 17:50:25    1284565

Omagh or Dungannon for me,

Lifford Gael (Donegal) - Posts: 1925 - 17/10/2012 18:01:23    1284576

North Side Gael
County: All
Posts: 1052

1284306 If you think it will go back to clones your living in cloud cookoo land! A possibility may be that it would be rotated with a new up to date clones, possibly, but the quicks ins and outs of belfast etc will mean it will be kept there and i assure you from having a political back ground that the gaa will have made assurances that it will stay there to ensure they are first in line for future funding also.

So for all the anti belfast brigades yapping we will be seeing ye all at least once a year for a long time to come!

Don't be so sure. And its not so much Anti Belfast, more anti building a stadium on the east coast and creating longer journey times in the process. The quick ins and outs from Omagh would also make it an viable alternative.
I'm suggesting a location that would leave it 1 hour or less travel time for around 90% of GAA fans in Ulster.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 17/10/2012 18:21:47    1284588

Tom1916
County: Armagh
Posts: 1456

Not sarcasm just idiocy. Ambulances and medical personnell attend all major games and are on standby at the ground. Perhaps because you are from Antrim and have never attended a major game then you are unaware of this (it is well known that only a small minority of Antrim people attend GAA matches). Casement park holds up to 30,000 at the minute yet how many times is it full or even half full when Antrim are playing there? As for someone else talking about the bars and clubs in the area, these are all soccer clubs and in fact some of them are owned by 6 county soccer players so I wouldn't hold my breath about being allowed in with a GAA jersey.

Ballygawley would be a good site for a new stadium although I would still rather Clones and asy oul granda used to say "support your own people".


Some nice Antrim bashing there Tom1916... backed up with impressive and precise analysis such as "it is well know...". Your ignorance has obviously affected your memory, Antrim SF team have had bigger days than Armagh in recent years; Ulster Final along with Galway and Kerry in the qualifiers spring to mind.

Oclan (Antrim) - Posts: 2 - 17/10/2012 18:37:04    1284597

By my calculations brend...only another 22 years

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 17/10/2012 18:52:03    1284610

What is the point of this discussion

Decision made long since.

LIke or not its Casement.

KELF (Kildare) - Posts: 775 - 17/10/2012 19:28:47    1284635

Belfast by a mile. Omagh is a desaster to get about especially on saturdays. M1 to Casement in and out in no time.

onceaponatime (Louth) - Posts: 210 - 17/10/2012 20:44:54    1284693

Oclan
County: Antrim
Posts: 1

Some nice Antrim bashing there Tom1916... backed up with impressive and precise analysis such as "it is well know...". Your ignorance has obviously affected your memory, Antrim SF team have had bigger days than Armagh in recent years; Ulster Final along with Galway and Kerry in the qualifiers spring to mind.

Indeed Antrim have had bigger days than Armagh recently (in mens senior football) however the number of people supporting Antrim remains minimal compared to that of those supporting Armagh or any other county in Ulster.

Tom1916 (Armagh) - Posts: 2001 - 17/10/2012 21:12:42    1284715

Aye well as long as its handy for people from louth to get straight up the M1 thats the important thing.

Samsforthehills (Donegal) - Posts: 1075 - 17/10/2012 21:14:37    1284718

Tom 1916

Nice Antrim bashing again but sorry you are picking on the wrong target again, as I work at all the Ulster Council games throughout the Championship when I'm home. Unfortunately I can't do all the games due to working overseas but I do know about large crowds and some of the dangers that have happened. I remember a Tyrone V Derry in Omagh, the girl working with me nearly fainted with the heat due to our area being over-packed. Its not a case of having the odd ambulance on site, you need back up in case of a full scale emergency, that is why Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Councils as well as the Police have a Statutory legal duty when any Major match is played.

lufty (Antrim) - Posts: 77 - 17/10/2012 21:16:57    1284722

Its not a case of having the odd ambulance on site, you need back up in case of a full scale emergency, that is why Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Councils as well as the Police have a Statutory legal duty when any Major match is played.

Yes they need to be notified but nowhere does it state that major events have to be staged beside hospitals. As a professionally trained steward you should obviously be able to cope with an emergency situation as I am, I am an ex-Croke Park steward (voluntary although I still pay may dues to the stewards fund).

Tom1916 (Armagh) - Posts: 2001 - 17/10/2012 21:36:11    1284736

Samsforthehills
County: Donegal
Posts: 380

1284718 Aye well as long as its handy for people from louth to get straight up the M1 thats the important thing.
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I have a feeling thats more to do with the shopping than the football!

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 17/10/2012 21:49:50    1284751

Tom 1916
Sorry I must have missed the medical courses as well as never have heard of the Stewards fund but then I have never worked in Croke Park. Yes stewards are trained for certain eventualities and some are trained for cardiac equipment but an hours drive to an emergency hospital with a 40,000 crowd is too long.

lufty (Antrim) - Posts: 77 - 17/10/2012 21:57:48    1284761

The Ulster Council played a blinder in getting the funds from Stormont so the money was never going south to Clones. I would have no problem with the main showpiece stadium based in Belfast.

Byanthon (Tyrone) - Posts: 1792 - 18/10/2012 08:36:53    1284772

lufty
County: Antrim
Posts: 68

1284761 Tom 1916
Sorry I must have missed the medical courses as well as never have heard of the Stewards fund but then I have never worked in Croke Park. Yes stewards are trained for certain eventualities and some are trained for cardiac equipment but an hours drive to an emergency hospital with a 40,000 crowd is too long.

I can't help but think of the approx 20,000 people who live in Omagh town day to day, and the additional 28,000 people that make up the Omagh district council area. To think the majority of those 48,000 have over an hours drive to an emergency hospital. Maybe a renewed push to open the acute wing of Omagh district hospital would make sense.

With GAA stadium safety becoming more prominant, We have seen many grounds having their capacities reduced. Recently MacCumhaill park in Ballybofey had its capacity slashed from 18,000 to 12,000. Measures such as these reduce the chances of Crowd pushes/crushes. With overall crowd dangers covered, the next biggest concern is general sickness. With people taking ill while at the stadium/ground, and needing to be rushed to hospital. Short of having 100 ambulances present, It is hard to cover every possibility. Hell we could see 200 - 400 people take ill and all be rushed to hospital ( Probability is slim ), at which case the hospitals would struggle.

For big games, Medical tents would be set up in the stadium grounds. With 2 GP's present, and first Aid trained stewarts at all corners of the ground. Even in a major city, there is no guarantee of covering all bases. We have many grounds that are too far away from hospital's, which are closed by the same politicians that then look to have 3 state of the art stadiums in Belfast!!! Madness

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 18/10/2012 08:42:18    1284773

Since when is enniskillen an hours drive from omagh?

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1429 - 18/10/2012 09:22:23    1284783