Curragh done and dusted, Conleth's Park next up on McManus agenda

Naas native, Padraig McManus, will step aside at the end of this flat racing season having successfully completed the assignment he was handed back in 2015 when appointed to the Chair of the Curragh Racecourse with the no 1 object of overseeing the redevelopment of the facilities at the head-quarters of Flat racing in Ireland.

The former Naas CBS man has had a stellar business career since he graduated from UCD as an engineer in the early '70s, immediately joining the ESB, a company he served in many capacities just short of 40 years before stepping down in 2012.

In that time, the popular Kildare man, served in a multitude of roles, culminating with being appointed chief executive, and a member of the ESB board in July 2002.

McManus was later appointed to the Chair of Eircom Group where he served for five years from 2012 to 2017.

These two roles are just two of the major high-profile positions he has held in a business career second to none.

Back in 2015 when the Curragh Racecourse turned to the former energy chief to oversee the massive plans to redevelop the

Curragh it was an undertaking that was expected to be completed in three years or so but in fact, due to Covid, and a multitude of other factors, took eight years to complete.

Padraig McManus explains: “There was a previous development planned, way back, a €120m proposal that was largely debt funded, but then the crash came in 2008 and that all stopped.

“The main drivers of this development — now completed — were John Magnier and The Aga Khan, those were the two who were pushing hard to get the project restarted and in 2014 work had been done in getting commitments from a certain number of people to put money into it; that was the start of it and before I joined a number of people had committed; a competition had been held , an architect selected and it was at that stage and we had to conclude the contracts and then go to tender.”

Padraig McManus is a very proud Kildare man and it was that pride that made him decide to take up the appointment at the Curragh.

“I saw it more of a Kildare thing for me; growing up around here (Naas) the Curragh was always an iconic place and to see it in the state it was in simply was not appropriate for Kildare and more importantly, racing .

“I always saw it being, from my point of view, something for Kildare to say we would do this and do it properly, and I think it has been a fantastic success, in terms of the facility that has been developed” quickly adding “the next issue for the Curragh really is a problem that all race courses have all over the world at this time, is getting people through the gates.”

Padraig McManus has also been spearheading the redevelopment of St Conleth's Park, Newbridge, home of Kildare GAA, but we will come back to that anon.

Looking at racing, and indeed the betting industry and how the landscape has changed, even since Covid hit, Mr. McManus says that “betting has become much easier, people can bet on their phone and watch every race on their phone, so all the tracks, not only in Ireland but the UK, France, America, Australia, they are all having that problem and people are just going to have to deal with that; it's a different proposition that people want now; days of punters arriving at a track, paying their money at the gate standing in the stand is probably different from what people want in the future; punters want to sit down; want to meet friends; today's want is different but I think we have developed a facility at the Curragh that is a match for anything and I think the next phase of it now is to make the business work.”

An avid GAA fan, Mr McManus said that “I always felt my contribution was to get it (Curragh) to the stage when it would be finished, all the contracts would be concluded; all the problems sorted and then, it wasn't that I had a defined time when I was going to leave but I have to say the fact that St Conleth's Park was starting, and as I said while the Curragh was a sort of Kildare thing for me, the GAA would be my more spiritual homeland and that it is a kind of labour of love to see St Conleth's — or what I should be saying now Cedral St Conleth's Park — being redeveloped and that has taken a long time to get off the ground but great that we are now operational with that.”

The original budget at the Curragh, we were told, was some €60m plus and that went well over budget, what exactly was the cause of such an over-run?

“The issues that were around the Curragh; money was put together in terms of commitments from the State and commitments from shareholders before the project was fully designed; there was a budget early on of €63m which people have talked about but that was based on what money had been gathered at the time” adding the design wasn't finished; no tender had been issued, so when the tender was issued, the tender price, including all the design fees, all the extras etc, the entire budget came in at €73m so while saying it had gone over budget from €63m but that was never the budget, the real budget price was €73m.

“The end price” added the Naas native, “came in at €82m of which half of that gap (€9m) was additional add-ons that the Curragh had asked for; the other half was then various extras and inflation; so when everything was done, the design was done, the tenders were in the budget price was €73m and it finished at €82m but definitely a lot of stuff was added by the Curragh which brought the price up and then there was inflation.”

Any danger anything like that could happen at St Conleth's?

“There are a couple of things different with the Conleth's Park development; we (committee set-up by Kildare GAA, under the chairmanship of McManus) decided from the very start, and from my perspective a bit of experience I learned from the Curragh, we absolutely locked down everything in it, so we did a far more detailed design at the very start, we specified an awful lot of things in far greater detail than would be normal because we made it clear this is what we have and we are not going to spend more than that.

“I suppose what happened with St Conleth's was we walked into a storm that was rapidly rising inflation, the Covid crisis and then the Ukraine War after that, so we were going to tender at really the wrong time but I think since then we have locked down everything; we have made it very, very clear to the contractor that we are not making any changes to it; we are sticking to it exactly as it is and while you can never be guaranteed but an awful lot has been done to try and lock down the prices.”

At this stage all the demolition has been completed at Conleth's and they are now at the stage of starting to dig foundations which will be the next big challenge to ensure nothing happens during that phase, according to McManus, who adds “once we get through that phase we can be very confident we can manage the costs.”

The main structure will start at the end of August the contractor, we are informed, is very determined to be out of it before the summer of 2024.

The pitch will probably be one of the slowest parts of it?

“Yes, but a lot of experience has been gained by everyone in recent times” added the chairman of the development “and I would still be very confident that we will be playing the county finals next year there. The Curragh was a far bigger project; an awful lot more detail design in it, it is much more exposed site as well; a lovely place on a summer's day but the wind blows a lot at the Curragh.”

Speaking of wind and the Curragh what immediately springs to mind was that infamous whistling sound that had racegoers scratching their heads in wonderment when it first opened to the public but thankfully has been sorted to both the Curragh committee's satisfaction along with the parties involved.

Since Padraig McManus took over the Chair of the Curragh, there have been three changes at Chief Executive level.

initially Derek McGrath, who left when the project was more or less complete; Pat Keogh came in on a short term contract from Leopardstown before Brian Kavanagh took over the role in 2022. The former Hri Chief Executive, is a former CEO of the Curragh so knows the place and the ropes better than most.

Brian Kavanagh is very experienced, he knows the business, insists Padraig McManus, “in his earlier life he was manager of the Curragh so he knows the business very well; a big challenge and a key challenge is to recreate the atmosphere and get the attendances up.”

Ascot Racecourse across the pond had also undergone a major rebuild in recent times and, according to McManus, the people in Ascot said to him “if you completely rebuild a place the people are lost when they go in initially; so when people went to the old Curragh they knew where they would head for, their friends knew where they were so they could find them no problem but then in the new Curragh, people did not know where to go, where to meet people and the fellas in Ascot were saying when they redeveloped they had the very same experience and it took about three

years for people to settle down and find their 'home'.

Padraig McManus insists that comparing the like of the Curragh with Punchestown is simply not comparing like with like; Ireland and the UK are probably unique in that national hunt and flat are both really big; lots of countries have only flat;

France is different of course but in Ireland and the UK both flat and national hunt are really big and there isn't a full mixing of them and while some people go to both .... what's really happening in racing at the present is that Festivals are getting bigger and bigger but the average day is not following suit.

Festivals are now a social occasion and maybe that is what racing needs to get to but that is the challenge for all racecourses and the industry as a whole; the old model is gone so it is a case of finding out exactly what is the new model, the new right model” quickly adding, “but the new model has to be something different.”

And so the end of this Flat season will also see Padraig McManus' role at the Curragh Racecourse come to an end.

“Initially it was a three year term” says the Naas man; “my goal was to redevelop the place finish it make sure all the contracts were closed; all the issues sorted; it has taken over eight years from the hoped for three years initially but from my perspective I have done what I set out to do and I think racing and Kildare have got a magnificent new headquarters.”

As for St Conleth's Park, McManus says: “was it Enda Kenny who once said that 'pound for pound Ireland was the greatest little country in the world' but our goal is that for this new stadium, with a capacity of 15,000 (3,000 seater), will be the best around and anyone who looks at the design and sees the facilities they will agree; but as important as the facilities are, the pitch has always been too small and we will be able to fix that now, another major bonus.”

So when Conleth's Park is finished, what will Padraig McManus turn his hand to?

Play more golf came the instant reply.

Enjoy!