Solid foundations

The latest phase of Croke Park¹s facelift got under way with the demolition of the Hogan Stand the week after last year¹s ladies All-Ireland final. Hogan Stand was curious to find out how the development was progressing so he made a phone call to Tom Costello, MD of John Sisk, the company responsible for the project.

Last year’s ladies football showpiece between Mayo and Waterford marked the end of the Hogan Stand as we know it. The wrecking ball swung into action the Monday after Mayo’s surprise victory over the Decies and the contractors, John Sisk, plan to have the third phase of the Croke Park development completed by the summer of 2001.

“It has just been demolition work so far,” explains Sisk MD Tom Costello. “The nature of the job has been very slow. There was asbestos in the roof so removing that has been a painstaking process. The Canal End will be finished by May of this year.”

The Mayo native continues: “It’s a very demanding, and interesting, project for us. We’ve had to build the new stands around a live stadium, Croke Park has not had to close down to facilitate the development work. We’ve managed to accommodate the GAA so far and hopefully we’ll be able to accommodate them in the future. We hope to have about 9,000 seats ready in the new Hogan Stand for this year’s football semi-finals. That’s a big challenge for us but we’re very proud of our association with the GAA.”

Tom is fulsome in his praise of the GAA’s foresight in designing the ambitious plans seven years ago. “Full credit must go to the GAA. The entire project costs in the region of £100m. They received the £20m from the Government but there was a lot of work involved in coming up with the remaining £80m. When Croke Park is completely finished it will be one of the finest stadia in the world and the GAA will be the envy of all other sporting organisations.”

Tom joined John Sisk Ltd. twenty years ago, on graduating from UCG with a Bachelor of Engineering Degree. He succeeded Kevin Kelly as MD in November.

Croke Park is not the only development John Sisk is working on at the moment. In fact, the company had a record turnover of £330m in 1999.

A native of Balla, home of county stars Pat Fallon and Maurice Sheridan, Tom lined out with the local club at all underage levels. His brother Gerry currently coaches underage teams there and his nephew, Alan, is one of their brightest prospects. He was selected on the Mayo Under 16 squad this year.
“We didn’t win much when I was playing. TJ Kilgallon, who’d be about three years younger than me, would have been a team-mate on those teams,” he revealed.

Meath’s All-Ireland win last year earned them the title ‘Team of the Nineties’. If there was a category for the ‘Hard Luck Story of the Nineties’, Mayo would figure prominently in most people’s permutations. Twice (excluding a replay) the green and reds made the trip to GAA headquarters (‘96 and ‘97) but on both occasions they returned home empty-handed. Rivals Galway’s Sam Maguire triumph last year rubbed salt into the wounds.

In the summer of ‘99 they put one over the reigning champions but failed in their bid to emulate their neighbours. Cork proved to be the rock on which their All-Ireland ambitions perished at the penultimate stage. To make matters worse, Tom was left with egg on the face.

“I was sitting in the premium level seats and there was a friend of mine from the AIB in Cork sitting a few seats behind me. When we went 0-6 to 0-1 up I put my fist up to him, I thought we were going to coast it. Needless to say I didn’t turn around for the remainder of the game!

“It was a disappointing way to exit the championship because they were after playing a couple of good games in Connacht against Roscommon and Galway. It looked as though they had sorted out their scoring problems but they faltered very badly in the semi-final.”

Since Mayo’s semi-final exit, they’ve parted company with manager John Maughan. His replacement, Pat Holmes, is new to the world of team management and may require some time to find his feet. On the other hand, he could just be the breath of fresh air required to herald a new, successful era in Mayo football.

Just a few short months into his managerial reign, Holmes has proven that he’s not one to shy away from a tough decision. He has wielded the axe and former team-mates David Brady and Maurice Sheridan have felt its brunt.

“Pat Holmes has come in and it looks as though he wants to stamp his own personality on the team. He’s giving youth its chance and rightly so. John Maughan did his bit and was extremely unlucky not to have led them to an All-Ireland win. I would hope that Holmes builds on the discipline which Maughan had instilled into the team. He’ll also have to try and instill confidence into the panel. That was badly lacking in recent years.”

So who’s going to win the first All-Ireland of the new millennium?

“I think the Sam Maguire will be returning to Connacht this year but, unfortunately, I don’t expect a Mayo man to be carrying it,” the affable Costello replies. “For some reason Galway fell flat in ‘99 but based on their performances in ‘98, I think they have as much, if not more, ability than any other team in the country. I think they’ll bounce back in style in 2000. I wish Pat Holmes all the best and will be only too delighted if I’m proven wrong,” he concludes.