Just a new topic to see peoples thoughts in this.

Regardless of the teams current short comings what are the updates on a refurbishment of Pairc Tailteann??
And what would be Meaths alternative 'county' grounds in the event of PT closing for an upgrade. Many counties have two grounds such as Armagh with the athletic grounds and crossmaglen. offaly with tullamore and birr. galway with salthill and tuam..

where would be an adequate secondary ground for the county with stand facilities and proper crowd management.
Is it a real issue?

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 805 - 09/02/2013 18:42:59    1331018

Ashbourne or Trim

NMG1 (Meath) - Posts: 33 - 09/02/2013 18:56:17    1331027

I doubt they will need any alternative grounds really. Once the money is there the first thing to change will be the terracing of the end banks. After that (in the distant future from the looks of it) when they redevelop the stand they'll simply close off the entire stand/east side of the stadium and let everyone fill the terraces for the time needed. For big league games we'll have to use someone elses grounds or like kildare do, be arranged as a double header with the dubs in return for a payout.

Can't see games being moved to an alternative grounds though unless the 2nd grounds gets an upgrade too. Crossmaglen, Birr, Tuam etc. were all well developed before the main stadium was redone. Offaly's case is different anyway, they had one grounds for hurling; Birr and one for football; Tullamore, but after Tullamore got redone they moved hurling there aswell, Birr wasnt used at all while Tullamore was done up. Meath used to have the same with Navan for Football and Trim for hurling, seems to be going back that way too.

Ashourne's location wont do it any favours for most Meath people, and its dressing rooms are too small for what is otherwise a very good ground, doubt the small stand would hold a big enough crowd though. Trim has everything really (location, pitch, facilities, history etc.) except some form of stand for spectators, which is unfortunately one of the most important things, so football games wouldnt go there either.
.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1695 - 10/02/2013 17:14:49    1331499

CastleBravo

Agree that there is no need for an alternative ground. Just posting hypothetically to get opinions.. in a scenario where another ground was needed where would be best. My thoughts would be trim also however it lacks any stand facilities which are vital. Even uf it was to act as a hurling venue there Hasta be capable facilities

PT must be developed adequately but there has been no mentioning of anything for the last few months. Does anybody know anything?

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 805 - 10/02/2013 18:37:04    1331571

Think it would do no harm to give the likes of Ashbourne just reward for their ambitious development to be given even 1 County league fixture per year. If there is a game likely to bring a small crowd why not showcase a new grounds with a modern seating area and make for a compact, comfort and a bit of atmosphere? Páirc Tailteann is no palace at the best of times but is an excellent venue the seldom its full. You could have that atmosphere more often if County Board hosted smaller crowds in Trim or Ashbourne. Not a complaint on my part but more a suggestion.

rath_togh (Meath) - Posts: 740 - 10/02/2013 19:12:48    1331610

Not looking good for any refurbishment works on PT anytime soon with the release of those latest figures

johnsee (Meath) - Posts: 389 - 08/05/2013 13:01:20    1380501

I doubt they will need any alternative grounds really. Once the money is there the first thing to change will be the terracing of the end banks. After that (in the distant future from the looks of it) when they redevelop the stand they'll simply close off the entire stand/east side of the stadium and let everyone fill the terraces for the time needed. For big league games we'll have to use someone elses grounds or like kildare do, be arranged as a double header with the dubs in return for a payout.

We wontt ever need to use someone else's ground or sell our souls to make a few bob, even a one sided Pairc Tailteann (being the terrace side) would have a bigger capacity than the entire of St Conleths Park in Newbridge so if the goal ends were terraced properly we would have a more than adequate capacity for when the existing stand is hopefully redeveloped. Personally I would like to see the existing terrace extended at both ends, seated and covered so we would have covered accomodation at both sides, improve the toilets at the rear and you would have a fine second stand at relatively low cost in comparison to a full rebuild. Ashbourne and Trim are magnificent club grounds but their ability to hold county matches if doubtful due to lack of stands and parking etc, Trim puts its car parking spaces at 200 and I doubt Ashbourne is much more

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3757 - 08/05/2013 14:57:36    1380626

Castletown , stand , new dressing rooms , plenty of parking , decent pitch !! Ya wouldn't swing a small cat in Ashbourne dressing rooms

missingjerseys (Meath) - Posts: 36 - 08/05/2013 16:54:33    1380701

1) There is no money to do it up. 2) Even if they were to do it up, How many venues around the country have been revamped and are never full. eg. Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. 3) Would the money not be better spent on the "Centre of Excellence" in Dunganny? 4) Go all out on the catering side of things and make a few cups of tea to sell at half time.

mawmouther (Meath) - Posts: 109 - 08/05/2013 17:08:02    1380710

mawmouther
County: Meath
Posts: 48

1380710
1) There is no money to do it up. 2) Even if they were to do it up, How many venues around the country have been revamped and are never full. eg. Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. 3) Would the money not be better spent on the "Centre of Excellence" in Dunganny? 4) Go all out on the catering side of things and make a few cups of tea to sell at half time.

Gaelic Grounds in Limerick has a 50'000 capacity, we only losing to develop a comfortable and fit for purpose stadium to hold 25'000 or 30'000 max, at present we have a ground that is seriously out of date with none of the facilities that modern day players and spectators expect, facilities for women and children at Navan are particularly bad, people look for a lot more than a cup of tea nowadays

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3757 - 08/05/2013 17:32:51    1380727

The second question is shy ard we more in debt than reported at the last Convention, where did this extra debt come from, it appears funding to develop Pairc Tailteann will be withheld until this debt is sorted (although our debt is minuscule in comparison to other counties). However if this is the case then methinks some of the previous incumbents have questions to answer

Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3757 - 08/05/2013 17:35:14    1380729

Richie was thinking the same thing today myself where did extra 90,000 debt appear from since last november. Looks like the new board found a situation a lot worse than they had imagined. I know there is counties with a lot worse debt than ours but you ll probably find that they have a better county ground and training facilities, we have potentially a great training facility and a wreck of a county ground in my opinion

johnsee (Meath) - Posts: 389 - 08/05/2013 18:42:37    1380779

Well it seems Croke park have applied the shackles and tied Meath down till they sort the financial mess..which means the dinosaur which is Pairc Tailteann is along way from any kind of upgrading sadly, i wonder how they managed to get the figures so wrong, to the point of been almost 100k even worse off..!

sob (Meath) - Posts: 492 - 08/05/2013 18:45:17    1380783

I don't think that this issue should be allowed turn into one about when Pairc Tailteann will be developed. There are more fundamental issues at stake here. According to the main page: " The Meath County Committee's financial deficit of €180,000 for 2012 has been increased by a further €90,000, it was stated at the May meeting."

Two things spring immediately to mind.
1. How did the financial people in the County Board allow a deficit of €180,000 to build up within 12 months? What controls were there on spending within the county?
2. How was an additional deficit of €90,000 not noticed or not reported before now? The county trasured would have prepared a report for last years AGM. How could that have been out by such a huge amount.

For me there are some very big questions that need to be answered on this. I wonder though whether there are people in the county board, or in the local media willing to ask those tough question.

anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 08/05/2013 19:16:03    1380799

I fear that PT will be whittled down further in the coming years. And will soon be unable to hold any sort of championship game. Realistically. The optimum should be 25-30,000. A venue for north leinster. A neutral venue for surrounding counties.

It has to be down there with the worst county grounds (gaelic grounds in drogheda are terrible however hard to recognise it as a plausable county ground)
Something must be done with PT even it involves getting a sponsor and sharing it for events etc

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 805 - 08/05/2013 19:29:57    1380803

in the current climate..getting a ground sponsor could prove difficult

sob (Meath) - Posts: 492 - 08/05/2013 21:03:43    1380864

Building a brand new stadium to accommodate Meath, Dublin and Kildare is a daft idea. Dublin already have Parnel park for small games and the lower tears of croker do fine as a 40k seater. You wouldn't get nearly as many Meath or Kildare fans going to matches in Dublin as you would in navan or newbridge.

All we need is a terrace behind one goal and a new stand. Not a bloody new stadium. The existing terrace is fine. If they fitted the stand and concrete seats below it and to the sides with actual seats that will support your back then nobody will be complaining for the next 5 years while they sort out the debt.

I find it sad that counties like Ofally, Armagh, Down, Galway, Mayo and many more all sorted out their stadiums while we sat there and did nothing.

Jack_Goff (Meath) - Posts: 2920 - 09/05/2013 09:49:51    1380940

As a dedicated Meath supporter and someone lucky to have some employment in these hard times I would be quite happy to pay €42* a month (€500/pa) towards a development fund. I would do this on the basis that the money only goes towards the redevelopment of PT or Dunganny. The Council still must learn to balance its books. All I want in return is the pride it gives me in playing a part in restoring our county grounds and hopefully bringing some future glory to our county.

*possibly more

If we can get at least 5000 people to make a similar commitment then things might look a bit rosier. After the developments of Dunganny and PT are complete I would be happy for this money to go to grassroots development.

Any others willing?

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 465 - 09/05/2013 10:12:36    1380952

Jack.goff.. Fully agree. Im not looking for whole new stadium. Redevelopment of grass banks at both goal ends into terracing. The stand needs to go with adequate dressing room. Toilets etc. Bucket seats along the stand. Im sure that equipment can be obtained these days as competition is reduced.

LoyalRoyal. If everybody could give something to a development fund im almost certain that money would be put to a "greater good'' and wasted before any development takes hold.
Also, supporters are squeezed enough and not everyone could commit money (no matter how small your figure may seem). additionally supporters should not have to take this challenge on. 3/4 of the counties redeveloped their various stadia in recent years without such measures.

Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 805 - 09/05/2013 11:19:05    1380981

It's our county and ours to maintain as much as anyone on the county board. It is OUR stadium, OUR county.

I can't see many other ways of doing this. I know how hard things are, I'm not blind to whats going on, the recession is affecting me, my friends and family too. But 5000 people is less than 3% of the counties population. Even if we didn't reach that figure it wouldn't do any harm.

If a development fund were to happen it would not be in the hands of the County Board and would have to be completely transparent. It would only be used to pay development and other associated fees.

LoyalRoyal (None) - Posts: 465 - 09/05/2013 11:41:51    1380999