It doesn’t feel like it right now but the Croke Park decision might be for best
LOUTH are on the hunt for a new venue for their County Ground, following the revelation last week that GAA authorities in Croke Park have withdrawn their offer of support to develop the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda.
It has been an inglorious end to a protracted process, which has stumbled on from year to year without any real sign of forward motion.
The timing could not have been worse for Louth GAA as it has come following a humbling Division Two campaign which had seen the team comprehensively lose all six of their first games when the decision was revealed and lose their final and seventh game against neighbours Meath last Saturday afternoon in the aforementioned, Gaelic Grounds.
Talking to several people since the decision went public, the most damning element was the indifference and lack of surprise. It was as if no one cared. Certainly no one was surprised. The selection of the Gaelic Grounds never rested easily with many supporters, especially those from north Louth who believe that the county grounds should be located in the north of the county.
The decision didn’t cause a ripple nationally and almost flat-lined just as completely locally.
Now Louth are looking for a new home, having wasted years sticking to the decision that the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda was the designated County Ground.
Part of the problem in Drogheda was the fact that the ground was home to O’Raghallaighs GFC and the club had understandable concerns about their ability to play home games during any period of redevelopment when they would be required to play home games away from their home base and that would make life more difficult, particularly for juvenile teams.
Will that issue not be as challenging if Louth move to Oliver Plunketts GFC in Drogheda or St Mary’s GFC in Ardee both of which were raised as potential new homes at last week’s hastily arranged meeting of the County Board or any other club venue in the county for that matter.
St Mary’s GFC have a second pitch and that will be of some help with ongoing club fixtures, but will the complexities of a ground share which effectively is what any decision to locate Louth’s County Ground at an existing club venue means, not scupper that as it did in O’Raghallaighs.
Is a greenfield site as has been suggested this week in relation to lands near Ardee, not just pie-in-the-sky talk that will never amount to anything, given the scale of the investment that would be required.
That leaves the option of Louth GAA’s existing Centre of Excellence in Darver.
The centre has the land to develop a sports stadium, but it was not designed to accommodate big crowds, there is no proper spectator accommodation, no infrastructure and the roads leading to Centre are not designed for even moderate attendances of 3,000 and 4,000.
There is no support infrastructure in the locality, no shops, no restaurants, no pubs, no public transport links. It is a rural setting with a rural infrastructure and certainly not ideal for accommodating even moderate attendances such as 3,000 or 4,000 spectators. Parking cars in a field is acceptable for big summer club championship matches, but it is not the way forward for developing a county ground, particularly when you consider that National League matches will be played in February and March, when using agricultural fields for parking would require an army of tractors to pull them back out onto the road.
Shops, pubs, restaurants, take-always, parking, public transport links, are all amenities necessary when choosing a location for any development.
Louth presently are on the way back to Division Three of the National League and attendances in Drogheda have been small this year, but that might not always been the case.
Wheel forward five or ten years and it is entirely possible that Louth have a highly competitive team playing in or one their way to Division One.
Then supporters from Mayo, Dublin, Galway, Donegal or Tyrone could be coming to Louth for big matches.
The defending All-Ireland champions could be coming to town, with a large band of supporters.
Do we really want them out in the sticks, with no commercial spin-off for local businesses in the hospitality industry.
During Dundalk’s European adventures of recent seasons, one of the biggest regrets was that the town could not benefit from the big matches. Supporters exited on the town by rail, bus and car to the Aviva and Tallaght Stadium. The flow of supporters should have been the other way.
The good times come and go in sport and Louth are going through a tough patch on and off the field right now, but it is important to make the right decisions for the long-term future.
The Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda seemed an ill-fated choice for a longtime now and perhaps Croke Park did Louth a favour in the longer term by pulling the plug on the development of the Drogheda venue.
The proposal for a newly built stadium at DkIT was allowed slip away, despite the proposers meeting every obstacle that was put before them. That golden opportunity for a modern puropose-built 21st century stadium was spurned.
It doesn’t seem a blessing right now and alternative venues are thin on the ground, with any new designated venue sure to have an army of detractors, but the decision is made and over the coming months the County Board will have to pick up the pieces and move forward and find a workable solution and get on with delivering the goods.
THE GAELIC GROUNDS IN DROGHEDA SEEMED AN ILLFATED CHOICE FOR A LONG-TIME NOW AND PERHAPS CROKE PARK DID LOUTH A FAVOUR