Louth GAA stadium project suffers major setback

Louth GAA supporters will have to wait a little longer to see work begin on their new stadium, as following a Croke Park directive the County Board have had to put the project on hold.

Having completed levelling works on the site, building work was supposed to getting underway this morning, alongside an official launch ceremony marking the occasion.

However, the likelihood of this event ever taking place took a big hit last Saturday when the GAA relayed communications that they were not to proceed with the launch.

A GAA bulletin released to the media read: “Meetings of An Coiste Bainistíochta and Ard Chomhairle took place last night (July 14th) and today (July 15th) respectively.

“The following decisions were taken:  It was agreed to instruct Coiste Contae an Lú not to proceed with the current plans for a new Stadium pending a reassessment.”

It was Sunday evening before any word of a cancellation came through, with Louth GAA officially announcing its postponement just after 11PM.

“Following communication with the GAA over the weekend, the launch and commencement of construction of our new stadium is postponed until early August” read the statement which was shared across the county’s social media channels.

An emergency meeting of the Louth County Board’s management committee was held Sunday night. The only item on the agenda was Croke Park’s instructions for Louth not to go ahead with the launch of the project.

The Croke Park central meeting, which was where the directive to stop plans to begin building was issued, was believed to have been attended by Mr Fitzpatrick, who was warned not to go ahead with the launch.

This was not the first time this plea had been issued, as concerns from the GAA surrounding the imminent start of building works, along with its funding, were brought by Croke Park officials back in June. These issues were addressed at the most recent county board meeting.

Whereas many delegates had been supportive of going ahead with the launch, members of the management committee spoke against it last Monday night. The meeting went on for almost three hours, as debates on this subject ensued.

In another bombshell for Louth fans, following the emergency meeting last night, The Democrat understands that Peter Fitzpatrick has resigned from his position as chairman of the County Board.

The Independent TD had been a huge advocate for getting the Wee County a new stadium, setting it out as one of his top priorities ever since he took up Louth GAA’s highest office. He has also campaigned for funds to get the project off the ground.

At the time of print Mr Fitzpatrick had been approached by the Democrat for comment but could not be reached, while Louth GAA had yet to issue any statement confirming his departure.

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The new stadium was originally budgeted at around €12 million, but this figure had since risen significantly to €29 million.

At July’s County Board meeting, club delegates were informed this had dropped down to €25 million, after some ideas for the project, described to delegates as “bells and whistles” had been dropped from their plans.

Louth GAA hoped to chip in €18 million of the final bill, with the vast majority of this funding coming via the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP). €14.8 million was promised from this outlet, which Fitzpatrick fought hard to get through the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) is a pathway for non-EEA nationals to secure immigration permission to Ireland on the basis of long-term investment of a sum of money in a project that has been approved for that purpose by the Department of Justice and other Government stakeholders.

37 foreign investors have pledged €400,000 each towards the stadium through the IIP, to help gain Irish residency. Should any of said 37 pull out, delegates at pervious meetings were told that others were available to make up the funds.

Other ways they hoped to foot the bill was via naming rights of the stadium, advertising hoardings on site and a Leinster Council grant.

Louth GAA had then sought €7 million from Croke Park to make up the shortfall, but from an early stage in the negotiations, Croke Park sought an assessment of costs. This was still the case ahead of today’s proposed launch and commencement of building work.