A long road back to square one....
June 2010
AFTER years of inertia and failed negotiations between the O Raghallaigh’s and Louth County Board a possible way out of the County Gorund mess emerges in the shape of a DKIT stadium proposal. Initially planned as a 22,000 capacity, multi-sport arena, it’s revealed that Louth GAA would be the anchor tenants, with the likes of the IRFU and FAI using it as and when required for a rental fee. Louth chiefs enter discussions with DKIT, starting an eight-year journey that eventually leads nowhere...
March 2011
LOUTH GAA chiefs reveal that the DKIT proposal is too ambitious for Croke Park officials and inform clubs that unless it’s scaled back, the plan will be killed at inception.
July 2011
THOSE concerns are obviously addressed by DKIT as by the summer of that year the college releases a detailed plan for a scaled back stadium and within a month Louth clubs are presented with three options for a new county ground
• A €6 million joint initiative with DKIT with a capacity of 12,000, 4,000 of which would be seated. At that stage the stadium location would be behind DKIT on their current playing fields.
• A €3.8 million redevelopment of Drogheda’s Gaelic Grounds is also presented to clubs with a new stand to be built on the near side of the pitch adjacent to the O Raghallaigh’s clubrooms. This would bring the capacity to 7,000 with 3,000 seated.
• The final proposal is for two stands down either side of the main pitch at the Darver Centre of Excellence. This cost a whopping €5.9m and would be all-terrace.
November 2011
IN the run-in to Louth’s annual convention it emerges that the proposed DKIT stadium will be a GAA-only facility.
The plan also receives a ringing endorsement from Croke Park, who publicly support the project pending a vote by clubs at Convention.
December 2011
UNSURPRISINGLY clubs vote overwhelming in favour of the DKIT plan at annual Convention. 82% of delegates back the plan and are told the project will now move to implementation phase.
November 2013
WITH the planned project now set for council lands adjacent to the old JJB Soccer Dome and scaled back to an 8,000 capacity, Croke Park pull the plug on the proposed partnership with DKIT. The governing body feel the project cannot be completed for the anticipated €6 million and tweaked plans for Drogheda are drawn up and brought to clubs for approval.
November 2014
ARDEE Councillors meet with county board officials to discuss a greenfield stadium option on the edge of the town, but are told that Drogheda is the front-runner. Meanwhile, county board delegates are informed that Drogheda negotiations are 99% there.
March 2017
OVER the next few years a number of ‘milestones’ are hit in relation to Drogheda, including transferring ownership to Louth County Board and securing approval for the project from Croke Park, but on Saturday March 24th, 2018 Central Council confirm the project is dead...and won’t be brought back to life!