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Louth GAA President Peter Fitzpatrick says the full planning permission for a new 14,000-capacity site is the best news the county has received.
The county house search saga has held Louth back for years, but the 12 million euro stadium on Dundalk’s Inner Relief Road finally received the green light from the Louth County Council on Thursday.
“The task of finding a new home, one that suits our needs and helps us develop, has been going on since 1959,” President Fitzpatrick told RTE Sport.
“This is the best news we’ve had in 50 or 60 years. I was a coach when we lost to Meath in that 2010 Leinster final and yesterday’s news, in my opinion, makes up for that loss and the heartbreak we had that day.
“It’s been a long time and to be honest I never thought we would see it.”
The land will be built on a 14 acre site.
It will have a covered seated position with a capacity of 4,000 people and, over time, the distant position will have a similar number. The covered terrace deck will provide 8,470 fans and a general standing area for 1,450 more. Eventually, Louth hopes it will develop from a 9,000 to 22,000 capacity venue.
Louth GAA is pleased to announce that they have been granted planning permission for the development of our new stadium on Inner Relief Road 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/GkpBq2zU8b
– Louth GAA (@louthgaa) September 10, 2020
Louth has had to regularly sacrifice home advantage in recent years due to the limited capacity of the Gaelic Grounds in Drogheda.
Fitzpatrick insisted that a change was needed.
“A committee of six has met once a week for the past two years on all the planning issues that needed to be addressed once we found a site,” he revealed.
“As a former Louth coach and footballer, I have traveled with the county throughout Ireland and envied the grounds that others had, such as Offaly, Sligo, Mayo.
“We also deserved to have a place to call home, and this is a step in the right direction.”
The new arena will cost around 12 million euros. Louth is hopeful for state and GAA funding, but Fitzpatrick says they will meet that challenge.
“The hardest part was getting land and the second biggest hurdle was planning.
“We have a lot of work to do now in terms of finances, but we have already done a great deal in that area and we have more plans for that aspect as well.”
“Preparation has already started in terms of drainage operations, site cleanup and we have already placed 5,000 fill loads on site.
“Now we’re back to driving. 2020 has been a difficult year and I put it in perspective with what families had to go through with Covid-19. At the end of January, John Horan changed the turf on the site, but we needed something to solid him. They like yesterday’s news after so many ups and downs.
“We get a lot of false promises to people.”
Louth treasurer Aidan Berrill told RTE Sport that the board will have to raise about a third of the estimated cost of € 12 million, but says yesterday’s development was a significant milestone.
“There were no committee celebrations,” Berril said, “it was a case of what the next stage is.”
“We want to keep the progression to the end and while Covid may delay our plans, we also cannot allow it to distract us from what we want to do.
“We will have to fundraise for a third of the cost of this project at least, but we have already spoken with Croke Park about that, while we have also been in contact with the Department of Sports and Tourism in that regard.
“We started our own fundraiser a year ago with the Wee County Double House drawing, where you could win a house in Drogheda or Dundalk with the same ticket.
“We have already put our shoulder in the wheel in that regard and we are going to get the giveaway revitalized with all the clubs and vendors getting up and running again.
“The key to yesterday’s news is that it will raise the bar everywhere and that’s key to everything. We’ve had to cancel NFL games in the past and even a county final due to waterlogging at our existing field in Drogheda.
“We will now have a stadium that will see us proud to welcome teams from all over. Eventually, we could have an Ireland U21 final if teams from Ulster or Leinster show up. It’s going to lift up all of our young players and It will give them something to aspire to. “
Louth are due to resume their Allianz League Division 3 campaign with a trip to Cork in mid-October.
This will require an overnight stay and will place immediate financial demands on the board.
Fitzpatrick says GAA overall should get as much support as possible as the inter-county season prepares to resume.
“The first thing I would have to praise the GAA is to let the club championships go ahead, that has really helped the grassroots.
“This virus has spread across the country, but GAA has been one step ahead of many other organizations in terms of caring for everyone in the area.
“All the clubs have put their shoulders behind the wheel.
“My only concern right now is that they may have to spend € 20 million to have an All-Ireland series this year. It is a lot of money.
“Many county boards have resources and are fighting. Here in Louth, we will do it one game at a time, but the scene is different for everyone.
“Changes will need to be made, even if it’s just for one year. Players may have to accept reduced mileage and panels could be limited to make sure this is done.
But it is a very significant amount of money to play in unique games and deep down I wonder if we can afford to spend that. I’m not sure.
“The message seems to be that people need to get out, that we all need to be lifted up, but GAA will also need help running the inter-county series.”
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