Angry residents in the vicinity of Croke Park will stage a protest convoy on the main Dublin-Cork Road on the morning of next Sunday's All-Ireland football final.

The protest, which will start at 8am and will involve 60 vehicles travelling in convoy from Portlaoise back up to Croke Park, has the potential to inconvenience Cork fans travelling to the game.

The protest is the latest move by residents who are furious with the GAA's plans to press head with the €9 million redevelopment of the handball and community centre beside Croke Park, despite their consistent objections. Local residents are reportedly dismayed that they will be losing a centre which they say has been a hub for the community for over 30 years and of which the GAA has acted as trustees.

"We are not out to inconvenience the ordinary decent GAA person travelling to the game which is why we are letting people know in advance but we have been left with no other option," said Croke Park Streets Committee chairman Eamon O'Brien, who is a native of Tipperary.

"You might ask why we are concentrating on the Cork road and not the Down (M1) one. "Well, the president of the GAA is from Cork and he has consistently ignored us. That is why."

O'Brien added that the residents had been "treated like fools and trampled on".

GAA spokesman Alan Milton responded to the residents' plans by saying: "At the end of the day, the GAA are making a €9m investment on this project and it will generate 150 jobs in the inner city if it gets the go-ahead.

"Handball is a very important part of the association for us and one that offers us an international outlet and we are looking to bring the standard of the facilities in line with others around the country." Tweet

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