Time for GAA to play the game

It seems to me that the time has come to knock a few heads together. Vast amounts of newspaper and air space has been devoted in recent weeks to the building of stadiums in or around Dublin.

As we all know work at Croke Park is well advanced and now the FAI says they are going ahead with a new stadium at Citywest while the Government is also to invest an enormous sum of money in providing a new stadium in Abbottstown.

Where is it all going to end? The GAA has already invested a sizeable sum of money in developing Parnell Park, a large sum has been invested in Dalymount Park and the IRFU, not all that long ago for some of us with long memories, spent a huge sum of money on its East Stand.

Surely it stands to reason that all the proposed developments are going to cost a lot of money that we cannot afford and that the maintenance and upkeep of these projects is going to be expensive for the various bodies involved? Will they all be fully used or merely turn into white elephants?

The big player in all of this is the GAA. They are by far the biggest, richest and most influential sports body in the country. They have a magnificent stadium within walking distance of the centre of the city and, for the most part, use it on only a few occasions for their own sports during the year and for the occasional concert.

Would it not make sense for the GAA to make minimal alterations in their rules which would allow all big sporting events to be played there.

This might appear to be a backing away from the GAA's ancient heritage but wait a minute! We are living in a new era where changes are falling fast and furious upon us. Money speaks with an ever louder voice.

Only three or four rugby matches a year would require the kind of accommodation which Croke Park can provide. Where would that leave the "foreign games" lobby within the GAA? Well, that lobby has diminished greatly in recent times and are not nearly as influential as they once were.

As far as the politics of the situation is concerned it has been mentioned many times that the IRFU is, like the GAA, a non-political and nonsectarian body. In any event developments in Northern Ireland are moving, albeit tortuously, in such a way that some of the GAA objections are no longer relevant, as is the case with Rule 21.

That brings us to soccer! At the moment the Croke Park pitch would not be suitable but that could easily be put right. If agreement could be reached with the GAA Croke Park could then become the place most suitable for the big national and international occasions and the facilities, some of them already in place, could benefit all three associations and could also be made available for other big events from time to time such as rugby World Cup or a European Cup soccer final.

What the Government could do in the event of GAA agreement to this suggestion is to use some of the money which they now appear to be willing to spend on the Abbottstown project to say to Croke Park: "We will put in a pitch suitable for soccer at Croke Park, we will make a further contribution to your rebuilding programme and here's a few bob for your coaching and youth development scheme as well!"

In return the GAA would agree to discuss with the IRFU and the FAI a fixture list which would be suitable to all. The GAA has already broken new ground by playing important matches on Saturdays or midweek evenings. They already have fine stadiums in Cork, Thurles, Killarney and elsewhere which could be used for the less important fixtures if space were needed.

This would make commercial sense and would allow all concerned to save money on the projects which have been recently outlined. The Government could then devote some more money for the support of youth schemes.

The stark fact is that this country should not be proposing to spend huge sums of money on building separate stadiums for separate sports when, with a little bit of idealism and common sense, one would provide adequate facilities for three different sports, save money and release funds for other deserving projects.