Pairc Ui Caoimh - 60000 all seater stadium!

Marthaa

We need a new stadium in Connacht, not that our calls will ever be heard.

hardybuck

Marthaa wrote: »

We need a new stadium in Connacht, not that our calls will ever be heard.

Where exactly? How many games in the province would exceed 30k supporters per annum? Very little I'd say.

rn

Marthaa wrote: »

We need a new stadium in Connacht, not that our calls will ever be heard.

I assume this is a joke? I'm from connacht. Pearse stadium, Castlebar and the Hyde will prob not see a capacity game this year. We are way over capacity for stadia in connacht. Meanwhile many of the GAA clubs in urban areas in connacht are devoid of facilities to meet the demand. Infact apart from a hand ful of games in Munster the attendances are well below 15000 and all games so far this year could be hosted comfortably in county grounds, including Meath v Laois and Dublin v Wexford double header.

castie

Shane10 wrote: »

the GAA needs to get real and get up to date. whats with this waste of money building terraces at grounds on 3 sides and a stand on 1 side. crappy grounds with no real facilities, out of date practically as soon as they go up. grounds should be hired out for anything concerts, soccer games whatever needed to bring in the cash. its 2010, get on board.

Well the point people are missing here is they dont seem to need to bring cash in. They have this money already and its coming from somewhere!

Shane10

castie wrote: »

Well the point people are missing here is they dont seem to need to bring cash in. They have this money already and its coming from somewhere!

it was coming from renting out croke park! and then the get rid of replays in the early rounds. madness if u ask me.

Pete_Cavan

rn wrote: »

The GAA needs some sort of Executive body to oversee what county boards and clubs are currently doing and not doing from a capital development point of view and that clubs and county boards are not over extended in loan wise.

The GAA should have set up some sort of internal planning authority of their own to govern capital development and ensure the money from opening Croker was spend effectively. The biggest problem for the GAA is that they are trying to maintain 32 stadia at the highest possible capacity. There is no need for every county to have a 30,000+ stadium because they are too expensive to maintain and are very rarely filled (if ever in some cases). They should have put a plan in place and focused on a limited number of stadia. One 40 - 50k stadium, possibly all seater with very good facilities in each province would suffice. 20,000 capacities would be more than enough for most counties.

Im sure building a 15,000 all seater stadium would cost about the same as a 40,000 capacity concrete step. The 15,000 stadium would be more comfortable, cheaper to run, have a better atmosphere and be filled more often delivering greater value for money in the long term.

rn

You are talking complete sense there Pete. And on top of that we need to put in better pitches, particularly better drainage, so that when games are played in the arse end of the year - and lets face it with the back doors we are always playing games year round, that those games can go ahead after heavy falls of rain.

Pete_Cavan

Its a bit late now seeing as most of the money from opening Croker has been spent, or is being spent. I still think there is a role for an inhouse planning department, especially as an ametuer organisation there is an onus to be extra careful when spending money. Getting back to the topic, I dont see the point in the GAA spending money developing a centre of excellence at Pairc Ui Caoimh if it is just one pitch (the main pitch cant be used for training in order to preserve the surface) which is not big enough given the large GAA playing population in Cork. Taking land that has been earmarked for a public park is going to result in a big legal battle which will cost even more and the GAA are very likely to lose. They should develop a proper centre of excellence outside the city with 4 - 5 full sized pitches, gym, sports hall, handball allies etc. The county board (in every county) dont seem to be capable of such forward thinking and continue to waste money making poor decisions. So many aspects of the GAA are now run very professionally from headquarters and capital investment should be another.

rn

I don't think its too late. Sure there was a hell of a lot of surplus cash from the IRFU/FAI rental and that will not be repeated again - but there is plenty of cash coming into the organisation from Intercounty Championship and qualifier games over the summer. Remember that 90% of that goes to central funds and only 10% to the host county. Meaning the GAA still has plenty of money coming in with plenty still being spent on capital development. What you suggest would create a much better return for the GAA. County boards still have their eyes on large stadia as the main avenue for their own captial investment which is just wasteful.

The main point I will disagree with you on is a 5-6 pitch "centre of excellence" that is outside the city. The GAA needs to get back into the cities as Ireland turns more and more urbanised. Centres of Excellence in the middle of nowhere that are not accessible to the population to play our games are another waste of money. We are building one in Roscommon that is 25 minutes from the nearest urban area and 55 minutes from Athlone. The intention is that it'll be used by all clubs - however I can never see my local club ever using it.

There is probably scope there for a dedicated GAA committee to put in state of the art facilities in the Cities that 2-3 clubs could share, leveraging on acquiring some lands from NAMA if possible (it should be investigated anyway.).

Pete_Cavan

rn wrote: »

The main point I will disagree with you on is a 5-6 pitch "centre of excellence" that is outside the city. The GAA needs to get back into the cities as Ireland turns more and more urbanised. Centres of Excellence in the middle of nowhere that are not accessible to the population to play our games are another waste of money. We are building one in Roscommon that is 25 minutes from the nearest urban area and 55 minutes from Athlone. The intention is that it'll be used by all clubs - however I can never see my local club ever using it.

There is probably scope there for a dedicated GAA committee to put in state of the art facilities in the Cities that 2-3 clubs could share, leveraging on acquiring some lands from NAMA if possible (it should be investigated anyway.).

I wasnt saying the centre of excellence in Cork should be built miles from the city, just not in a limited space which the proposed site is. But I know what you are saying and this ties in with my point. Decisions like this shouldnt be left to county boards because they usually make the wrong decision. There are other factors that have to be taken into consideration and a dedicated inhouse body should have the experience to ensure the money is spent in the most effective way.

popebenny16

it is a really good idea to rebuild PUC - it is in bits and the facilities are non existant but i am in the 45,000 seater high quality camp. i dont think 60,000 will ever be regularly filled. Semple has been recently facelifted, whoever mentioned the old New Stand it has been refitted behind the scenes and is much better than it was you just cant see it on the telly.

you look at the sunday game last night and casement park in belfast and breffni were virtually empty vast acres of concrete. we have too many stadiums that are too big and will never be filled as it is. For the poster who mentioned Limerick being good, you mustnt have sat in the main stand and had your view obscured because of the angle the seats are at. Just as well its used once a year.

WesternZulu

Would way prefer if the GAA built 15-25k stadiums that are modern and compact instead of huge white elephants like in limerick.

Semple is meant to be the 2nd best in the country, i went down there last summer for the 1st time and was expecting a lot more from munsters top stadium.

If Cork are doing a 60k stadium (way too big imo) then do it right...4 sides covered, modern terraces like the ones in germany. No real point in having these uncovered concrete slabs that every ground seems to have if you're building a 60k stadium in 2010.

Stinicker

WesternZulu wrote: »

Would way prefer if the GAA built 15-25k stadiums that are modern and compact instead of huge white elephants like in limerick.

Semple is meant to be the 2nd best in the country, i went down there last summer for the 1st time and was expecting a lot more from munsters top stadium.

If Cork are doing a 60k stadium (way too big imo) then do it right...4 sides covered, modern terraces like the ones in germany. No real point in having these uncovered concrete slabs that every ground seems to have if you're building a 60k stadium in 2010.

A 45 or 50k all seater is what they should may it into with maybe a retractable roof for good weather, realistically only Munster Hurling Final day (or a big U2 concert) will ever fill it, 25k is enough for a Cork/Kerry Meeting. A 45 or 50k modern stadium built to GAA and UEFA standards would be ideal, With Landsdowne Road, Croker and this we could easily co-host say Euro 2020 with Wales or Scotland or even Northern Ireland if they have anything up to scratch.

Shane10

WesternZulu wrote: »

Would way prefer if the GAA built 15-25k stadiums that are modern and compact instead of huge white elephants like in limerick.

yep agree but all we ever see is a stand one side and 3 terraced kips that are out of date really the day after they go up. complete waste of money and an eye sore.

rn

Shane10 wrote: »

yep agree but all we ever see is a stand one side and 3 terraced kips that are out of date really the day after they go up. complete waste of money and an eye sore.

I take your point on the visual thing. But the thing is that terraces provide much better atmosphere in my opinion. 30K people in a terraced venue will be a cauldron compared to a 30K seated venue.

Shane10

rn wrote: »

I take your point on the visual thing. But the thing is that terraces provide much better atmosphere in my opinion. 30K people in a terraced venue will be a cauldron compared to a 30K seated venue.

ya but it provides no facilities and is completely open to the elements. i mean its 2010, not 1960. as stated it could be covered terrace either end like they do in germany.

rn

Shane10 wrote: »

ya but it provides no facilities and is completely open to the elements. i mean its 2010, not 1960. as stated it could be covered terrace either end like they do in germany.

But sure what do we need it for? You get max 10000 at a Division 1 league game in the winter - so a stand down one or both sides is more than enough and then get 1 or max 2 capactiy games in the summer when the weather is, give or take, grand for being on a terrace. One poster talks about bring a UEFA competition to Ireland - what the f**k are the GAA doing in volved in that madness... (pardon my french)

Certainly modernise our stands around the country and put in modest stands into secondary club grounds as well and put in clean concrete terrace - the day of the grass terrace is over.

Why not spend the money on state of the art pitch drainage so that we can play county finals at any time of the year in our county grounds. Building ***modest*** training facilities for our county teams so they are not piggy backing on clubs. Ensuring our clubs all over ireland have a minimum standard of secure facility. Providing GAA pitches to major Urban areas so that our games start being played there.

These things are all more important to the GAA in the medium to long term IMHO than a 40K all seated stadium.

grenache

60k for Pairc Ui Chaoimh, truly unbelievable stuff from the authorities in Cork. Another big white elephant to keep the Gaelic Grounds company. People in charge have obviously learnt nothing from the last few years.

flas

rn wrote: »

One poster talks about bring a UEFA competition to Ireland - what the f**k are the GAA doing in volved in that madness... (pardon my french).

bringing about 15 to 20 million euro into our country!

popebenny16

the GAA cannot afford to revamp their provincial grounds to UEFA standards, and the government have stopped sports capital grants altogether to the GAA so thats that.

the concrete terrace option was done as a cheap way to brag about how a county with only a few tens of thousands of inhabitants can have grounds of twenty or thirty thousand. Maybe they are holding them over to hold mass scuicides or ritual slaughters if the slump keeps going on. Funny how Cork County Board really do acknolege the situation by having Flower Lodge as their main ground and the DCB the same with Parnell Park. I mean when was the last time O'Moore Park, Walsh Park nor many others ever been full?

rn

flas wrote: »

bringing about 15 to 20 million euro into our country!

Not everything is about money. Indeed if the FAI stopped borrowing money to pay its players it could build one decent capacity stadium to actually bring that 15-20 million into the country, as opposed to being envious of GAA facilities and entertaining fanciful ideas to rent them for such purposes.

As for how the GAA could benefit from such an arrangement - We all know how well local GAA clubs done out of the last rental arrangement, where the financial windfall was promised at local club level...

Captial development needs to be targeted towards participation facilities and not specators, as the GAA have been doing for the past 10 years.

DH2K9

The standard of some GAA stadiums is appalling. I mean in the likes of Fitzgerald Stadium you pay for a seat yet the seat doesn't even have a back.

Rockfish

rn wrote: »

Not everything is about money. Indeed if the FAI stopped borrowing money to pay its players it could build one decent capacity stadium to actually bring that 15-20 million into the country, as opposed to being envious of GAA facilities and entertaining fanciful ideas to rent them for such purposes.

As for how the GAA could benefit from such an arrangement - We all know how well local GAA clubs done out of the last rental arrangement, where the financial windfall was promised at local club level...

Captial development needs to be targeted towards participation facilities and not specators, as the GAA have been doing for the past 10 years.

What are you ranting on about/? What 15-20 million?? And the FAI dont pay the players apart from their match fee which would amount to dam all i'd imagine.

flas

rn wrote: »

Not everything is about money. Indeed if the FAI stopped borrowing money to pay its players it could build one decent capacity stadium to actually bring that 15-20 million into the country, as opposed to being envious of GAA facilities and entertaining fanciful ideas to rent them for such purposes.

As for how the GAA could benefit from such an arrangement - We all know how well local GAA clubs done out of the last rental arrangement, where the financial windfall was promised at local club level...

Captial development needs to be targeted towards participation facilities and not specators, as the GAA have been doing for the past 10 years.

what are you talking about paying their players? The players recieve a match fee of about 150 to 200 euro at most which every player donates to a charity,the payment is in place since years and years ago when the players would have been taking time off from work and would have been reimbursed because none of them were wealthy,its doesnt happen now!?

rn

flas wrote: »

what are you talking about paying their players? The players recieve a match fee of about 150 to 200 euro at most which every player donates to a charity,the payment is in place since years and years ago when the players would have been taking time off from work and would have been reimbursed because none of them were wealthy,its doesnt happen now!?

My apologies - I will admit I am extremely ignorant of Irish soccer clubs workings and where the money from their games goes towards in association soccer. I'm not interested in it either for that matter. Thats not even considering receipts from International matches...

However if every irish soccer club was giving money centrally to the FAI for capital development - 1 UEFA large (30-40K) stadium is not out of their price range, with no help from government. At the end of the day the GAA doesn't have a need for such a stadium and shouldn't build one to that standard. A cheaper solution is adequate and rest of GAA money for capital development should be spent on county training facilities and GAA only facilities in Urban areas.

My point on the 30-40 million possibly being raised from a UEFA European cup being hosted by ireland is of no concern to the GAA at all. Its the FAI's job to bring that money into the country.

ellesse1

I hope if they do build big that they do it right and not just go for size. Cork is surely the place to have the countries second biggest stadium and if the new development was to be of high quality then maybe most if not all Munster finals will be held there in the future as well as some All-Ireland qualifiers and quarter finals. Id prefer to have Kerry v Galway, for example, played in an almost full 50 - 60 k all seater stadium than having it in a half full croke park.

Thurles is in a rural location in which the masses have to travel so I think putting a large improved stadium in the centre of Cork with a large population surrounding it makes sense. Added to this is the fact that Cork contest Munster finals consistently in both hurling and football so by having the finals in Cork the GAA would surely avail of higher attendances than making the cork support travel for one or both finals (Cork could go into rapid decline and never contest a final again!!). I agree that developments such as the gg were reckless and not well taught out but Cork already has a large stadium but its in serious need of work. There is an opportunity here for the gaa so I hope they make the most of it and construct a proper stadium which we can look forward to using.

Pete_Cavan

The GAA is committing €15million towards the Casement Park redevelopment. The Northern Ireland Executive is providing the rest of the money so it is sure to go ahead. Id say Pairc Ui Caoimh is out the window for now because the GAA wont want to be funding two large redevelopments at the same time. If the redeveloped Casement proves profitable for the GAA it may strengthen the case for Pairc Ui Caoimh and they may be more willing to commit to it then.

ellesse1

Yes those casements park plans sound good. I would like to see the gaa just concentrate on maybe 4 main stadiums one in each province and in the main population centres.

Thurles was a fine stadium and I always liked going there but big stadiums need to be in city's. Cork needs a new stadium anyway as PUC is currently dangerous and I believe this would have more potential to be economically viable as Cork does not have a concert venue at present, this new stadium could sort that out.

My fear with the plans in cork is that they will just add-on to the existing and patch it up to make it hold 60,000. This is exactly what we don't need.

Pete_Cavan

ellesse1 wrote: »

Yes those casements park plans sound good. I would like to see the gaa just concentrate on maybe 4 main stadiums one in each province and in the main population centres.

Thurles was a fine stadium and I always liked going there but big stadiums need to be in city's. Cork needs a new stadium anyway as PUC is currently dangerous and I believe this would have more potential to be economically viable as Cork does not have a concert venue at present, this new stadium could sort that out.

My fear with the plans in cork is that they will just add-on to the existing and patch it up to make it hold 60,000. This is exactly what we don't need.

I dont think they will just add onto whats existing, Id say part of the thinking behind the redevelopment is to open up another source of income by getting the concerts from the marquee into the stadium. PUC definitely needs redevelopment though, I was there for the first time last summer for the Cavan - Cork game and even Breffni Park looks like a top class stadium compared to it (although such a poor stadium was a fitting venue for the Cavan performance that day).

I think the GAA are making a big mistake by wanting to build a second pitch there. Cork County Council got the land on condition that it be used as a public park. The Councilors may have voted in a favour of selling some of the land to the GAA for a second pitch but that leaves it open to legal challenges which could delay the project and be very costly.

Anyway one all weather pitch is not going to be enough for a centre of excellence. Carlow GAA have got approval to develop their centre of excellence , which will include three full sized pitches. Cork has one of the largest GAA playing populations in the country and are competitive in football, hurling, ladies football and camogie so in order to keep developing players for these teams they will not more than one pitch (the main Pairc Ui Chaoimh pitch wont be used for training in order to maintain the surface). Im sure the county board is well aware one pitch will not suffice and are only looking for this as a warm up pitch. They should provide a warm up area under the stand like in Croker and scrap the second pitch idea.

ellesse1

Yes pete you certainly know your stuff here. I think the centre of excellence should not be in the PUC site. I believe it should be somewhere out by Ballincollig or some other place with good access and near the population centre, even in Mahon which is only up the road from PUC there is plenty of land available alongside their existing GAA complex which is better located than PUC.

In an ideal world i think we would all love to flatten PUC and build a modern stadium but in reality I think this would cost far too much, I mean thomond park was 40 mil for just 24,000 capacity so how much will a 60,000 all seater cost at that rate?

Looking to the future (2050 at this rate) if the docklands do get the anticipated development then I think PUC will be one of the best located stadiums in the world as it will be right in the centre of things so I would like to see the GAA build a showpiece here and take their time to ensure it is done right.

Does anyone know how much the Cork County Board are thinking of spending on this project or how much the board currently generate in any year?

1984baby

I was in PUC for the first time last year for a league match. It was the worst stadium I've seen in my life. Definately in need of a new Stadium down there

Dostoevsky

Pete_Cavan wrote: »

The GAA is committing €15million towards the Casement Park redevelopment. The Northern Ireland Executive is providing the rest of the money so it is sure to go ahead. Id say Pairc Ui Caoimh is out the window for now because the GAA wont want to be funding two large redevelopments at the same time. If the redeveloped Casement proves profitable for the GAA it may strengthen the case for Pairc Ui Caoimh and they may be more willing to commit to it then.

Wow. £100 million to redevelop Casement Park in a recession? That's enormous money. They should be able to get huge discounts in cost now. Any idea when redevelopment will begin, and how many people the new Casement is expected to hold?

Pete_Cavan

ellesse1 wrote: »

In an ideal world i think we would all love to flatten PUC and build a modern stadium but in reality I think this would cost far too much, I mean thomond park was 40 mil for just 24,000 capacity so how much will a 60,000 all seater cost at that rate?

It would actually be cheaper to knock what is there and start again. As I said, I reckon they are looking at hosting concerts there and in order for that to happen the stadium would have to be specially designed to allow them to do so. Also I am sure they want to get some sort of corporate area into the stadium and that would not be possible with whats there.

ellesse1 wrote: »

Looking to the future (2050 at this rate) if the docklands do get the anticipated development then I think PUC will be one of the best located stadiums in the world as it will be right in the centre of things so I would like to see the GAA build a showpiece here and take their time to ensure it is done right.

I have only been to PUC once, but having read a number of articles over the past year about the plans to redevelop the docklands in Cork, PUC seems to be ideally placed. Rather than going for that centre of excellence crap they should but looking to house a Cork GAA museum there or something along those lines. Something cultuar that would attract visitors and tourists on non-match days would be a much better option imo.

ellesse1 wrote: »

Does anyone know how much the Cork County Board are thinking of spending on this project or how much the board currently generate in any year?

Here is an article that puts the cost at €50million, although that seems very low to me, especially when you look at the estimates for Casement.

Dostoevsky wrote: »

Wow. £100 million to redevelop Casement Park in a recession? That's enormous money. They should be able to get huge discounts in cost now. Any idea when redevelopment will begin, and how many people the new Casement is expected to hold?

According to the article I linked, it would be 40,000 all seated. That seems about the right size for the stadium, any bigger would be too big.

Le King

Cork's plans aren't feasible any more. ATM it definitely needs a redevelopment but 40,000-60,000 is way too much. MHF will stay in Semple. Cork v Kerry would attract around 25,000-30,000 to PUC. To build in excess of that by 20,000-30,000 is ridiculous. Munster has 3 of the 4 biggest stadiums atm, perhaps PUC could reduce it's capacity to ~38,000 all seater. Possibly following UEFA's 5* Stadia recommendations. It would be nice to have a third top class stadium in Ireland and also being an all seater, facilities could be easily made for standing for concerts, events etc.

The 50,000 won't be financed I'd say and if it is it won't be for another while yet due to commitments with Casement Park.

There are places that need re-developing more than PUC. Such as the disgrace that is St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. Kildare GAA deserves to be right up near the top if you ask me. Ahead of PUC anyway.

jank

Le King wrote: »

Cork's plans aren't feasible any more. ATM it definitely needs a redevelopment but 40,000-60,000 is way too much. MHF will stay in Semple. Cork v Kerry would attract around 25,000-30,000 to PUC.

There are places that need re-developing more than PUC. Such as the disgrace that is St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. Kildare GAA deserves to be right up near the top if you ask me. Ahead of PUC anyway.

AAHAHAAHAHA LOL:D
Good one!

munchkin_utd

Le King wrote: »

There are places that need re-developing more than PUC. Such as the disgrace that is St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. Kildare GAA deserves to be right up near the top if you ask me. Ahead of PUC anyway.

Actually, youre not far wrong.
Any cash swirling about should be used to upgrade substandard stadiums about the country, or at least make them more comfortable for the average league or county club game.

The unplanned, unorganised, uncontained OBCESSION with building lots of large stadiums duplicating each other is sickening.

Parc Ui Caoimh is a stunningly badly designed stadium. BUT, the main problems are the tunnels under the stand which are your only entrances and exits.
A little redesign of these and you'd have a much presentable and safer stadium on the cheap.
(i.e. build a perimeter wall back from the stadium itself a little like croke park rather than having the turnstiles built into the stands themselves, also remove toilets from underneath the stands to the compond area)

But obviously the solution is to build a premiership standard stadium, with capacity that only a couple of premiership clubs could match, YET UNLIKE the premiership, you arent selling out the stadium every week with people paying from 60 to 100+ Euros for the priviledge.

With new 60,000 seater stadium:
Cork will have a handful of league games there with 45,000+ empty seats.
Cork will have tiny number of football championship games there with 25,000+ empty seats.
Cork will have the odd Hurling Championship game with 15,000+ empty seats
Cork will host the Munster football final every third year which also never sells out .
There will be county finals, but again, youre looking at 45,000+ EMPTY seats
It will NEVER host a Munster Hurling final, which might sell out if theres enough hype about it. But it wont host one so not a problem.

Am I missing the point?

Why does Pairc Ui Caoimh need a 60,000 capacity that it would struggle to EVER fill, let alone regularily?
Why not another random number like 90k or go all spanish on it and make it 120,000 seater!!!
The emptyness of the place will be impressive, maybe make it world renound!!

BTW: from hearing about other stadium projects, I think it was mentioned that once you start getting to a certain size the costs ROCKET, as you are then talking multi tier and an awful lot of extra complicated structural work involved.
Another reason to keep it more towards a single tier 40k capacity as opposed to the new "Emirates Stadium" by the Lee!!

Pete_Cavan

munchkin_utd wrote: »

The unplanned, unorganised, uncontained OBCESSION with building lots of large stadiums duplicating each other is sickening.

+1

Like I said already (post #57), the GAA should set up an in-house planning authority and county boards should have to justify their plans before they are allowed to build or receive any funding for Croke Park. Every county board has their own vanity project and this leads to money being wasted and white elephant stadia.

denishurley

munchkin_utd wrote: »

It will NEVER host a Munster Hurling final, which might sell out if theres enough hype about it. But it wont host one so not a problem.

I'm not in favour of a 60,000-seater stadium, but Cork have home-and-away arrangements with Limerick and Tipperary in hurling, and would be the natural choice for Tipperary v Waterford, so I'm not sure why you're saying it will NEVER host a Munster hurling final?

munchkin_utd

denishurley wrote: »

I'm not in favour of a 60,000-seater stadium, but Cork have home-and-away arrangements with Limerick and Tipperary in hurling, and would be the natural choice for Tipperary v Waterford, so I'm not sure why you're saying it will NEVER host a Munster hurling final?

youre right,
(from actually looking it up) there is a rotation there in various shapes and forms depending on the pairing in the Final. For some reason I thought that Semple Stadium, the "Home of Munster Hurling", was the automatic choice for the finals.

Still, 3 finals every 10 years is far from a justification to build a super stadium.

Back to the plans though, from the original Examiner article, the 60,000 seater stadium will cost 30 million euro!
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/kfkfidmheyid/rss2/

That sounds very very low to me.
For example, the new modest stadium for Hoffenheim (head of SAP software bankrolling them) cost 60million, and it is 30,000 seater.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhein-Neckar-Arena

Emirates arena is 390Million pounds construction costs for 60,300 seats (same as new PUC).

Thomond park, also a modest enough affair cost 40million for 26000 seats.

HOW can cork GAA manage to get a 60000 for 30million euros?

blackbelt

The problem with PUC is mainly due to the transport service that is supposed to cater GAA fans.

Also the stand is a sh1thole.Clearly designed so that your knees are being dug into by the back of the seat in front of you.

Actually,why don't they detonate a bomb and start over?

munchkin_utd

this project is still being pushed by the cork county board and theres a conceptual drawing of it today in the evening echo


http://www.eveningecho.ie/2012/05/16/anger-as-architects-sketch-shows-marina-park-cut-in-half/

residents not happy as their local park is being cut in half by the initial sketch drawing.

The GAA is expected to lodge the planning application this summer for a 45m upgrade that will increase the stadium capacity from 43,000 to 50,000 and include a second floodlit all-weather training facility.

The Marina Park is to be developed next year as a massive sub-regional public amenity, but the drawing, pictured here, shows that it will be dissected by the GAA plans.

<snip>
Mr O’Regan said: “If there was a drawing available, even a conceptual one, city councillors should have been shown it before they voted on the land rezoning.

We are just going to oppose everything now. We going to get bird experts and tree experts and we are going to fight this plan all the way.”
Residents are due to meet City Hall officials tomorrow to discuss their concerns.

ShamoBuc

It would be nice to hae another bridge across the Lee in fairness. The stadium looks quite nice.....definately won't happen so! There is fierce opposition to the development...from locals.....and this will drag on for years....Frank has no power over them!!

nice_guy80

What did they think that big concrete thing over the hedges was, when they bought their houses?????

If it was a rugby stadium they'd probably all be supporting it

Diabhal Beag

I have to say I like the roof over the stadium. Nice change from the traditional shed roof covering over damp seating that we've grown to accept as GAA fans.

slievenamon fella

i mus say that is a joke evenin dreaming of building such a thing...munster already has adequade stadiums...infact most of them will only be half full during most championship games this year,think this idea has come a few years to late and thank god for that or else we would hav a big new stadium jus left there for most of the year

Poor_old_gill

slievenamon fella wrote: »

i mus say that is a joke evenin dreaming of building such a thing...munster already has adequade stadiums...infact most of them will only be half full during most championship games this year,think this idea has come a few years to late and thank god for that or else we would hav a big new stadium jus left there for most of the year

I have to agree- Kerry, Cork, Tipp and Limerick all have stadia holding over 40,000. Thats crazy when you think of the amount of big games played in a 6 county province

GoldFour4

Agree with the above posters. This is a complete waste of money. How often was the Gaelic grounds full last year, cusack park ? , Fitzgerald stadium ? I don't even think Thurles was full ?

Frankie Lee

Who exactly is paying for this?

Alias G

nice_guy80 wrote: »

What did they think that big concrete thing over the hedges was, when they bought their houses?????

If it was a rugby stadium they'd probably all be supporting it

You mean the way local residents all supported the redeveloped Landsdowne road. There is a reason why the havelock end is disproportionately small.

The new Pairc Ui Caoimh would be a white elephant anyway. The Gah doesn't get enough use out of their large stadia as it is.

Pete_Cavan

I would imagine the plan is to accommodate concerts in the redeveloped stadium also. It would be great if they could incorporate a Cork GAA museum, like at Croker. They have plans to build a Kerry GAA museum next to Fitzgerald Stadium.

They are leaving themselves open for a lengthy legal battle with plans to take additional land to build their "Centre of Excellence" which will no doubt delay the project for years. The idea that one all weather pitch constitutes a Centre of Excellence given the large GAA playing population in Cork is laughable.