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Casement Park

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Again is the 'Location' and not the distance that is the problem. Yes we all head to Croke Park which is a (Close to) inner City location, difference is there isn't a Unionist/Loyalist heartland within 1 mile of the stadium when we head into Dublin. Many Gaels big fear would be that when big GAA games start becoming a regular occurrence at Casement, then our not so friendly Unionist/Loyalist neighbors will do everything they can do to disrupt or make us Gaels (From the rest of Ulster and beyond) feel totally unwelcome/intimidated/unsafe.

I am sorry but that is nothing but playing on fear to use that argument - first off I have travelled for years to Casement, even during the troubles, and never had any issues like you are alluding to so why would it become an issue now in 2016 and beyond? Loyalists won't stop Gaels travelling to Casement, Gaels own prejudices or preconceived notions will. I mean, do people seriously get out a map when going to or deciding if they should go somewhere to see how close either their route it close to Loyalist heartlands or the ground or wherever they are going is and then decide if it is a journey they are undertaking? If so people live very sheltered lives.

Also, on the let's just buy a few fields and build roads to Clones and upgrade the ground as well for £17m - that is the pie in the sky I was talking about. If you look at the construction cost per mile for a new road alone then the £17m wouldn't be getting you too many miles of new road nevermind thinking about upgrading the stadium (and that's on the basis you don't run in to any issues with construction such as archaeological finds etc which can add millions). And considering that to solve the Clones traffic nightmare would take a whole network of road then you would be lucky if the amount that Casement is taking would cover all your infrastructure and stadium upgrade - difference is that £60m odd of Casement is money that the GAA don't have to find which wouldn't be on the card for Clones. And that is also assuming that those who own the land where the new roads are to be built are happy to part with it in the first place - and if you know anything about land owners you will understand they don't like parting with land.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 26/05/2016 12:01:02    1858818

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Many Gaels big fear would be that when big GAA games start becoming a regular occurrence at Casement, then our not so friendly Unionist/Loyalist neighbors will do everything they can do to disrupt or make us Gaels (From the rest of Ulster and beyond) feel totally unwelcome/intimidated/unsafe.

Ach give your head a shake will you!

*sigh*

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 26/05/2016 12:27:07    1858847

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We have heard every excuse under the sun - stolen cars, loyalist mobs, roads, parking, soccer hot beds. The lecture on the undoubted good points of the parochial nature of the GAA should not be be used to prevent those who are responsible for the wider development of our games in the major centres of population from doing what is best. If there was no major modern stadium in Dublin at present, going by the logic some put forwards on this forum you would never build one because there are 3 seniors soccer clubs, there are alot of followers of the Premiership and Leinster Rugby are popular. Hopefully there are some who put aside and preconceived ideas of the people who live in our cities and realise that for the games to flourish stadium, resources and coaching must also be put into these places.

RoverTin (Derry) - Posts: 228 - 26/05/2016 15:36:52    1858966

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Offiside_Rule, Ulsterman and your fellow Antrim Gaels.
Firstly I am not lecturing to any of you, just giving an opinion that is different to yours.
You all put forward a strong argument as to why Casement will be the New Home of Ulster GAA.

I respect your opinion, but I and others have the right to disagree and put forward equally valid points as we see fit. Two sides of the coin & all that……..

Anyways for me, maybe a while back as a student in Belfast, being attacked for wearing a GAA Jersey has clouded my judgment or maybe made me acutely aware as to how 'Safe' the proposed new legion of Gaels coming into Belfast in a regular occurrence would be?

Offside, you talk of heading to Casement during the troubles with no bother at all, that's good for you, but many Gaels have had the opposite experience, with everything from heavy handed police checks, parking in the 'wrong area', to inconvenient traffic diversions and long traffic jams etc. All this now expanded with an extra 10 - 18 Thousand supporters attending the 8 proposed Big Championship games, all during the expanded 'Marching Season'
Call it scare mongering if you want but these ARE some of the real concerns that matter to us Gaels from outside Belfast when potentially attending Big Matches in Casement……………

IrelandUnited (Tyrone) - Posts: 77 - 26/05/2016 17:26:49    1859033

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Replying To IrelandUnited:  "Offiside_Rule, Ulsterman and your fellow Antrim Gaels.
Firstly I am not lecturing to any of you, just giving an opinion that is different to yours.
You all put forward a strong argument as to why Casement will be the New Home of Ulster GAA.

I respect your opinion, but I and others have the right to disagree and put forward equally valid points as we see fit. Two sides of the coin & all that……..

Anyways for me, maybe a while back as a student in Belfast, being attacked for wearing a GAA Jersey has clouded my judgment or maybe made me acutely aware as to how 'Safe' the proposed new legion of Gaels coming into Belfast in a regular occurrence would be?

Offside, you talk of heading to Casement during the troubles with no bother at all, that's good for you, but many Gaels have had the opposite experience, with everything from heavy handed police checks, parking in the 'wrong area', to inconvenient traffic diversions and long traffic jams etc. All this now expanded with an extra 10 - 18 Thousand supporters attending the 8 proposed Big Championship games, all during the expanded 'Marching Season'
Call it scare mongering if you want but these ARE some of the real concerns that matter to us Gaels from outside Belfast when potentially attending Big Matches in Casement……………"
You seem to wrongly assume that I am from Belfast but I too fall in to your Gaels from outside Belfast group. I was travelling up from the Glens of Antrim to Casement (over an hours journey) yet I don't recall police checks etc on my way to games nor any of the issues you seem worried about so it doesn't wash with me that these will become issues now. In fact, the only time I have had issues parking in the 'wrong area' at a GAA game is when I go to Croke Park and came back to find a clamp on the car (now if I was cynical I would say that my northern reg attracted the clampers to my car as the cars around weren't clamped and hadn't a northern reg).

In regards to the Marching season - we in Antrim have been playing club fixtures around the 12th and marching season for years - in fact last year our club was playing a game in West Belfast on the 12th night at 7pm (was a Sunday) and there was no issue getting up, playing the game or getting home again. As I said in my previous post - the only thing which will stop Gaels going is their own preconceived ideas or prejudices.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 26/05/2016 17:59:52    1859051

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Hassle and trouble towards Gaels isn't
restricted to rural people in Ulster, either coming to or going from Belfast. City players and teams have always had sectarian intimidation and violence directed to them within Belfast and going to games up the country. I remember our team being stopped by a UDR patrol just outside Larne about 1986 and getting all sorts of threats and abuse. My school, whose pitch was in a mixed area, used to get all sorts of nonsense thrown at them by Unionists and Loyalists. I also recall two fellas from Tyrone or Derry being murdered by Loyalists up the country while returning from an All Ireland back in the 70's. So to use this as an excuse not to go to Casement is a bit ridiculous.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9818 - 26/05/2016 18:22:03    1859061

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Replying To Ulsterman:  "First of all Gary and Brend, settle yourselves. The new stadium for Ulster WILL be in Belfast and most certainly at Casement Park. It's only a matter of scale and time. Unfortunately if compulsory purchase orders are required for half a dozen houses or so to make way for improved access and safety then so be it. It happens every day of the week and those affected should be compensated for it. Spotlight did raise genuine concerns over the exits and work will have to be done on this.
However there is an element within the Ulster GAA who are very hostile to Belfast FULL STOP and don't want the city being the hub of Gaelic Games in the province; they are petty, resentful, bitter and hypocrites of the highest order. They have NO problem coming into their well paid Civil Service jobs in Belfast and their offspring going to Queens and UUJ, and causing subsequent bother in the Holylands, but how dare the city get a new GAA stadium. Well suck it up and dry your eyes because it's like a glacier cutting through a mountain, unstoppable."
I attend UUJ part-time doing a Masters degree, and Its a balls having to travel up there for a course I should be able to do in Magee. Regular travel to the far eastern reaches of Ulster is not a joy, and is an inconvenience for me and many others. Perhaps if Magee was developed the way it should have been, we wouldn't have to travel and send kids up. But it's location has meant its bottom of the list, despite being located in the 4th largest city in Ireland.

And decentralization would address your issues with people coming to Belfast for public sector jobs, yet political powers struggle to address these things. They objected to Strabane with high unemployment getting a civil service centre, as it was a bit too.....ya know......green.
So they opted instead for the big village of Ballykelly, former soldier colony village on the way to Colraine. Ah yes thats much more acceptable.

Placing a Provincial stadium in Belfast makes no sense, as its purpose is to serve the needs of the 9 County Province. Belfast as a location is not ideal for this.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 26/05/2016 20:03:02    1859107

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Replying To RoverTin:  "Gary is like many Derry GAA people. That long 30 to 45 minute journey to Derry City to Celtic Pk prevents many from going and others to complain about it all the time. They want everything handy to them but probably wouldn't go if it was next door to them anyway. This parochial look after myself approach is seen in the north Derry, south Derry, city split and one of the reasons why Derry football is in the state it's in. Their notion of games development and more people playing and supporting our games doesn't go beyond their wee patch. By this type of logic there would be no Croke Pk, Pearse Stadium etc as most are not central locations for the counties or provinces.
Belfast, Antrim and Ulster needs this stadium and Casement Pk is the place for it. The Stadium development like a lot of infrastructure and other plans in the north are caught up in politics as much as they are safety or other concerns."
You're wrong, and this is why you're wrong.

I live beside Celtic Park right here in Derry City, and yet having the Stadium located here has done little or nothing for GAA in the City. Parking is a nightmare for big games, and It is seen as an Inconvenience for many Gael's outside of the City for even league games, who make up the Majority of Derry GAA fans who generally attend games. Owenbeg on the other hand is Ideal, only 25 minutes from here, and people at the far end of the County find it less of a trek. It doesn't have to be on their doorstep, it just doesn't seem like such a trek.

The Antrim poster's previously challenged me with something similar a year or two back, saying that with my logic regarding Casement/Belfast, surely I must feel Celtic Park should be moved to a more central location too. They must have been upset when I agreed, Celtic Park does nothing for match attendance of Derry GAA matches and has proven that locating a County ground in a largely populated area doesn't guarantee it will do anything for the game. Derry is a prime and proven example of this.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 26/05/2016 20:16:10    1859115

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Replying To Ulsterman:  "Hassle and trouble towards Gaels isn't
restricted to rural people in Ulster, either coming to or going from Belfast. City players and teams have always had sectarian intimidation and violence directed to them within Belfast and going to games up the country. I remember our team being stopped by a UDR patrol just outside Larne about 1986 and getting all sorts of threats and abuse. My school, whose pitch was in a mixed area, used to get all sorts of nonsense thrown at them by Unionists and Loyalists. I also recall two fellas from Tyrone or Derry being murdered by Loyalists up the country while returning from an All Ireland back in the 70's. So to use this as an excuse not to go to Casement is a bit ridiculous."
I couldn't give a rats arse about Loyalist mobs,

Many GAA fans have bitched about Clones being out of the way for years, and now when we have an opportunity to make amends, they tell us the Ulster Provincial Stadium will be based in the extreme east of the Province. I have heard many arguments of why the Stadium should be located in Belfast, but none stack up when considering the primary purpose for such a Stadium moving forward. It's a provincial Stadium, not a National or International Stadium.

Airports, hotel's or shopping don't matter to people travelling to big games, they want to go to the match, have a drop a tae along the road or in the venue with family and friends, and try and get on the road sharply after the match. It shouldn't be about Belfast's needs, It should be about the needs of the good aul GAA fan who contribute so much cash to the GAA over years and years. Why not consider locating a Stadium somewhere like Co Tyrone, where people from all corners can travel in less than an hour.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 26/05/2016 20:40:37    1859129

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Gary. You ponder why the new stadium should be in Belfast? 1. The politicians and GAA want it there. 2. Unionism has Windsor and Ravenhill in Belfast, the Nationalist community need a stadium there to balance it up. 3. It's part of the Stormont Stadium finance plan; if it's NOT Belfast there's NO grant. 4. The GAA want to maximise income return and plan to have a certain amount of other events at Casement, anyone who says otherwise is naive. Having a big stadium at the Ballygawley roundabout or outside Coalisland doesn't fit the bill. 5. Belfast is the premier city in Ulster and the prestige of Ulster's premier ground should be in Belfast. 6. Your points about Derry and the University of Ulster are valid. 7. Most civil servants, including many from the country, don't want to go to Ballykelly for the new Agriculture Dept and the Civil Service are having BIG problems recruiting volunteers; indeed they are now being told they are being compulsory moved if they don't get the numbers. 8. Many people I know from the country DON'T leave Belfast when they go there to study or work. They end up moving here permanently. 9. The street I live in Belfast has people from Tyrone, Derry, Louth and Donegal amongst others. 10. The strongest and fastest growing teams in Belfast are being boosted by rural people moving here, St. Brigid's in South Belfast being a prime example. Just 10 reasons Gary, I could write another 10.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9818 - 26/05/2016 21:13:22    1859149

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Replying To Ulsterman:  "Gary. You ponder why the new stadium should be in Belfast? 1. The politicians and GAA want it there. 2. Unionism has Windsor and Ravenhill in Belfast, the Nationalist community need a stadium there to balance it up. 3. It's part of the Stormont Stadium finance plan; if it's NOT Belfast there's NO grant. 4. The GAA want to maximise income return and plan to have a certain amount of other events at Casement, anyone who says otherwise is naive. Having a big stadium at the Ballygawley roundabout or outside Coalisland doesn't fit the bill. 5. Belfast is the premier city in Ulster and the prestige of Ulster's premier ground should be in Belfast. 6. Your points about Derry and the University of Ulster are valid. 7. Most civil servants, including many from the country, don't want to go to Ballykelly for the new Agriculture Dept and the Civil Service are having BIG problems recruiting volunteers; indeed they are now being told they are being compulsory moved if they don't get the numbers. 8. Many people I know from the country DON'T leave Belfast when they go there to study or work. They end up moving here permanently. 9. The street I live in Belfast has people from Tyrone, Derry, Louth and Donegal amongst others. 10. The strongest and fastest growing teams in Belfast are being boosted by rural people moving here, St. Brigid's in South Belfast being a prime example. Just 10 reasons Gary, I could write another 10."
But those a rubbish reasons Ulsterman, I mean I struggle to consider those real reasons.
I mean seriously "Unionists have Windsor and Ravenhill" or "It's getting funding from Stormont". Wise up man.

Ulster Gael's collectively have gave the Ulster GAA at least 10 times the funding those puppets ever will, and locating a Stadium in Belfast to even sectarian balance in BS. Anybody moving to Belfast is for jobs or education, not for the "premier city" crap you feed yourself.

I stood back and learned from mistakes previously made here in Derry City, and think the GAA need to wise up and do things right this time. Belfast means feck all to Gaels travelling to matches from all corners of Ulster, they just want to go see their team play and get home and watch the Sunday game that evening.

The Antrim posters aren't fit to be part of this discussion, as their parochial bias has been coming through for a few years now. We need an unbiased logical look at this. This is not a National Stadium, It is a provincial stadium and you need to look up precisely what that means.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 27/05/2016 14:00:21    1859332

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Replying To GaryMc82:  "But those a rubbish reasons Ulsterman, I mean I struggle to consider those real reasons.
I mean seriously "Unionists have Windsor and Ravenhill" or "It's getting funding from Stormont". Wise up man.

Ulster Gael's collectively have gave the Ulster GAA at least 10 times the funding those puppets ever will, and locating a Stadium in Belfast to even sectarian balance in BS. Anybody moving to Belfast is for jobs or education, not for the "premier city" crap you feed yourself.

I stood back and learned from mistakes previously made here in Derry City, and think the GAA need to wise up and do things right this time. Belfast means feck all to Gaels travelling to matches from all corners of Ulster, they just want to go see their team play and get home and watch the Sunday game that evening.

The Antrim posters aren't fit to be part of this discussion, as their parochial bias has been coming through for a few years now. We need an unbiased logical look at this. This is not a National Stadium, It is a provincial stadium and you need to look up precisely what that means."
Gary you may think evening sectarian balance is BS but the sheer economics of it overweigh any parochial argument, and to accuse the Antrim posters of parochial bias is a bit rich considering your blind hatred and objection to this proposal.

The GAA cant afford to turn down the funding, very simple, and it would be insane to turn it down for some ideological decentralisation. Name one county where the county stadium isn't in the county town, are all county towns centrally located, are they my a**e. To make any stadium work it needs a potential audience with infrastructure, and the funding allied with the significantly larger population on the east coast of Ulster mean it will not go elsewhere.

It could still be a white elephant but at the end of the day the GAA get a modern stadium in a well populated area for minimal funding, they get to earn some dough from the IRFU world cup bid, and they can claim to be supporting GAA in Irelands second city.

duckula20 (Antrim) - Posts: 175 - 27/05/2016 14:48:49    1859350

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Ha - enjoyed that read Gary. Not going to get in to all the reasons again as we have debated this over and over but as pointed out many times for me this is nothing to do with being parochial as it will be located in Co Antrim. You know that I am over an hours drive to Casement and that if you are talking places like Ballycastle you are talking further again and that I have provided travel times from each County to Casement (and provided time for time from same places to Clones to show Casement was closer for most) to show that most people would be there in the same time as me or some a lot quicker. So from that point Belfast although located on the East of the Province (similar I might add to Dublin not only in a Provincial basis but also National) has relatively quick travel times to it given it is served by 2 Motorways. From a business point then if you are to have a stadium which is to be fully utilised or utilised enough to make it sustainable then again Belfast is the obvious choice given that this is where the majority of the big businesses, companies etc are located so therefore you are immediately giving yourself a bigger market to try and maximise the use of your conference rooms and facilities and the likes.

Or we could go down the other route and abandon the £62m, try to get a central green field location that is in the geographic centre of the Province (making sure it is at least 1 mile from any Loyalist heartland), try to purchase the land for this stadium, then try to purchase a lot more land to allow all these roads to be built to cope with the traffic when you have an match/event/whatever on. Now, assuming all this has went smoothly (probably still talking a good few years with all the land purchasing, planning permission, Paul Scott's concerns over the safety of the new stadium etc) then build the stadium and get the infrastructure all put in place. In the interest of allowing me to be able to go on with this hypothetical situation I need to try and quantify some sort of cost at this point. Lets just take the Casement cost as the cost for this new green field stadium alone - so say £77m. At present the GAA are putting in £15m towards Casement so for the GaryMc Stadium we are already at least £62m short. But now we also have to get all these roads built or upgraded. Having had a wee look there through the costs of some recent road upgrades it is actually quite staggering what it is costing - seeing costs of £20m for relatively short pieces of roads, new link roads in cities etc so it makes it hard to even begin to pick a figure out of the sky for infrastructure costs but I'd say you are talking upwards of £100m.

So in this hypothetical situation we are over £160m short on what is needed to get this project completed. Where do you see this money coming from? It's a complete non starter of an idea if you even sit down to think about the reality of it instead of lying back looking at the clouds of how life would be in this Utopian world of yours where everyone's thoughts and concerns are taken in to consideration and everything is done for the good of everyone.

So to circle the square, my views are not parochial - they are just a realistic view based on how the world works.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 27/05/2016 15:06:38    1859357

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Offside_Rule butt out - your views are clearly fed by bias - I no longer have any views on the project because I am equally compromised and besides I have to get shifting shortly to make my 50 min commute home from Belfast - starting to think that my work should move to the site of the old mill a couple of hundred yards from my house up a tiny lane as I am getting sick sore and tired of coming into the city each day and am grossly offended by track suits and bum fluff moustaches, flag protestors and the giro d'Italia.

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 27/05/2016 15:17:55    1859360

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'The Antrim posters aren't fit to be part of this discussion, as their parochial bias has been coming through for a few years now.'

Brilliant that bit did make me laugh out loud....I could picture the foaming mouth as he typed!

As we say in Belfast Gary 'see you in the beano'!

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 27/05/2016 15:26:43    1859365

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Jaysus, Ulstermen arguing amongst each other?! I thought there's normally a united front there since it was ye vs. the World usually? I've seen Antrim men practically frothing with indignation at perceived slights to Donegal.

On the topic at hand, the idea of a central stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible. The costs alone would be eyewatering. Any Assembly money would be gone. On top of that, I'd imagine if Ulster GAA went to Croke Park asking for the 10s of millions needed for a greenfield stadium equally far from everywhere they'd go "hang on, weren't ye being handed 60 million to build a stadium in Belfast not too long ago?, Go with that instead."

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1677 - 27/05/2016 17:12:58    1859410

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "Jaysus, Ulstermen arguing amongst each other?! I thought there's normally a united front there since it was ye vs. the World usually? I've seen Antrim men practically frothing with indignation at perceived slights to Donegal.

On the topic at hand, the idea of a central stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible. The costs alone would be eyewatering. Any Assembly money would be gone. On top of that, I'd imagine if Ulster GAA went to Croke Park asking for the 10s of millions needed for a greenfield stadium equally far from everywhere they'd go "hang on, weren't ye being handed 60 million to build a stadium in Belfast not too long ago?, Go with that instead.""
What it is the purpose of an Ulster GAA Provinicial Stadium? To serve the needs of the GAA in 9 County Province of Ulster.

You say the Idea of a central Stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible ( Without saying why), yet Tyrone is slap bang in the middle of Ulster, and parts of Tyrone are accessible from the furthest reaches of the 9 County Ulster in approximately an hour or less. Meaning people travelling from every County in Ulster will be able to reach the Stadium quickly, making it an attractive option for quite a lot of GAA games and GAA gatherings. This would mean the Stadium is constantly in use, and is primarily used by the GAA for GAA events.

Perhaps Ulster GAA might grow a set, and tell Croke Park they would rather walk away than be bribed and bent over by the British and NI Exec to suit their political needs. I'm ashamed that some within the GAA sell their soul's for money, Ulster Gaelic fans will suffer long term for this crap.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3026 - 27/05/2016 20:53:26    1859461

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Replying To GaryMc82:  "What it is the purpose of an Ulster GAA Provinicial Stadium? To serve the needs of the GAA in 9 County Province of Ulster.

You say the Idea of a central Stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible ( Without saying why), yet Tyrone is slap bang in the middle of Ulster, and parts of Tyrone are accessible from the furthest reaches of the 9 County Ulster in approximately an hour or less. Meaning people travelling from every County in Ulster will be able to reach the Stadium quickly, making it an attractive option for quite a lot of GAA games and GAA gatherings. This would mean the Stadium is constantly in use, and is primarily used by the GAA for GAA events.

Perhaps Ulster GAA might grow a set, and tell Croke Park they would rather walk away than be bribed and bent over by the British and NI Exec to suit their political needs. I'm ashamed that some within the GAA sell their soul's for money, Ulster Gaelic fans will suffer long term for this crap."
Gary, I understand Derry people are miffed at the bias towards Belfast but sadly that's not going to change overnight, it will take time to address the imbalance East of the Bann. You seem to letting your total hatred of Belfast and Antrim cloud your judgement. Do you realise that Stormont has an allocation fund for stadia rebuilds and that if Casement isn't chosen the GAA loses the 62 million? Would that keep you happy? As for sellouts well tbe biggest Northern Nationalist party has just pulled off the biggest sellout yet by conceding the Justice Ministry to Unionists
Welcome to Norn Iron 2016. It's the way it is my friend. There's no sense in getting angry........cause it ain't going change soon.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9818 - 27/05/2016 21:23:36    1859471

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Replying To GaryMc82:  "What it is the purpose of an Ulster GAA Provinicial Stadium? To serve the needs of the GAA in 9 County Province of Ulster.

You say the Idea of a central Stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible ( Without saying why), yet Tyrone is slap bang in the middle of Ulster, and parts of Tyrone are accessible from the furthest reaches of the 9 County Ulster in approximately an hour or less. Meaning people travelling from every County in Ulster will be able to reach the Stadium quickly, making it an attractive option for quite a lot of GAA games and GAA gatherings. This would mean the Stadium is constantly in use, and is primarily used by the GAA for GAA events.

Perhaps Ulster GAA might grow a set, and tell Croke Park they would rather walk away than be bribed and bent over by the British and NI Exec to suit their political needs. I'm ashamed that some within the GAA sell their soul's for money, Ulster Gaelic fans will suffer long term for this crap."
How many sporting organisations build their main grounds in a greenfield site in the geographic middle of the country, ignoring major population centers and transport links?

Is Wembley based in Sheffield? Is the Stade de France based in the mountains in the middle of France? Do the Russians have a national stadium in the middle of Siberia in order to be "central"?

Obviously none of them do, because it's an incredibly stupid idea. While technically the middle of Ulster is closest to everyone, the road connections to Belfast make it a much quicker place to get to. Taking a dual carriageway to a distant location is much quicker than driving along a national road, through various towns to a nearer destination. It takes me longer to drive to Athy as it does to Galway, despite Athy being twice as close.

The cost you flippantly ignore is buying a new site and building a 30'000 seater stadium from scratch.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1677 - 27/05/2016 21:45:58    1859482

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "Jaysus, Ulstermen arguing amongst each other?! I thought there's normally a united front there since it was ye vs. the World usually? I've seen Antrim men practically frothing with indignation at perceived slights to Donegal.

On the topic at hand, the idea of a central stadium in Tyrone is shockingly terrible. The costs alone would be eyewatering. Any Assembly money would be gone. On top of that, I'd imagine if Ulster GAA went to Croke Park asking for the 10s of millions needed for a greenfield stadium equally far from everywhere they'd go "hang on, weren't ye being handed 60 million to build a stadium in Belfast not too long ago?, Go with that instead.""
That is because we are clanny houers CastleBravo. Defend the boundaries. Check out the Antrim site when there is a burning club issue and we will probably be at each others throats :)

Naysayer (Antrim) - Posts: 2071 - 28/05/2016 09:44:49    1859497

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