Asbestos cleared after Kilkenny stadium roof damaged by wind

The GAA has moved to reassure the public that the asbestos in the roof of Kilkenny’s hurling fortress posed no threat after it was damaged during this week’s storm.

Part of the roof of the old stand at Nowlan Park was blown off on Wednesday afternoon and a number of sheets of asbestos were being cleared off the surrounding roads yesterday.

“Kilkenny got a slaughtering,” GAA county board chairman Ned Quinn said when describing the unprecedented havoc wreaked across the county by the stormy winds.

Mr Quinn said the material was being taken away yesterday by specialist contractors and did not present a danger to the public. “Not at the minute, no,” said Mr Quinn. “Unless we got another storm. But all the precautions that can be taken are being taken.”

He said about 10 per cent of the roof was affected. The county board will now remove the remainder of the roof from the 1,800-capacity stand, allowing it to host matches in front of an uncovered stand as well as the larger, covered stand on the other side of the pitch.