Unleashing 'The Blue Wave' A Strategy for Dublin GAA - Croke Park

UNLEASHING “THE BLUE WAVE”
theme 6: ENSURE THE PROVISION OF APPROPRIATE FACILITIES
For Dublin GAA to grow and sustain the targeted increase in the numbers
playing our games it will be necessary for the County Committee to adopt a
more proactive and effective approach to the development of infrastructure
facilities. The relatively high cost of land in Dublin over the last two decades
and the lack of investment in stadia facilities in Dublin in the era prior to
the development of Parnell Park in the early 1990s has led to a significant
infrastructure gap at both club and county level in the capital. The current
economic conditions represent both an opportunity and challenge in
meeting this gap. A long-term investment commitment is required by all
stakeholders to leverage the current opportunities.
While many Dublin clubs have made significant investment in existing
facilities in recent years, the economic downturn has made it increasingly
challenging for clubs to finance, develop and maintain existing facilities let
alone develop new facilities to cater for targeted growth in team numbers.
Our analysis has shown that many clubs are very dependent on local
authority pitches, which cannot always provide the utilisation necessary to
meet their fixture commitments. The demands placed on club facilities, by
the vibrant level of activity in football, hurling, ladies football and camogie,
generally serves to exacerbate this infrastructure gap.
At Inter-county level the lack of appropriate facilities is now acute. The
development of Parnell Park in the early 90s provided Dublin with a home
venue but it is clear that the current capacity restriction on Parnell Park to
below 10,000 spectators and its tight confines, renders it insufficient to
meet the needs of successful Dublin inter county teams. The infrastructure
deficit also extends to a lack of training academy and centres of excellence
suitable to adequately cater for development squads at all age groups up to
senior level in all codes that match the on-field ambitions of Dublin intercounty
teams.
The traditional match weekend arrangement for Saturday and Sunday games
cannot provide an adequate games programme for clubs players as it seeks
to cater for the overlapping demands of both the dual and inter-county
player within the constraints of an already strained infrastructure platform.
In order to secure greater usage from existing and new facilities, the
Strategic Committee proposes that the traditional playing weekend should
be extended to include Friday night matches to cater for club players. This
initiative will require the provision of more floodlit and all-weather pitches
in each of the ten local regional development areas.
Through the implementation and delivery on each of the key strategic
actions identified below, the DCC has set out the following performance
targets for the years 2012 to 2017.
The following are the key strategic objectives under this theme:
1. Develop two centres of excellence, one on the Northside and one on the
Southside of the county, on a phased basis.
2. Provide sufficient number of cluster facilities with floodlight and all
weather capacity to provide for current and targeted increased games
requirements in all codes and to allow for the extension of club fixtures
to Friday nights.
3. Develop a stadium to bridge the gap between the capacity of Parnell
Park and the 82,300 capacity of Croke Park to meet the needs of
Dublin and its population.
4. Optimise the use of all existing GAA facilities in Dublin, including
second and third level colleges, to support our Games Programme.
56