Plans to finance new Pairc Tailteann development in place

With the Tailteann Cup safely in the bag, Meath also look set to take a giant leap towards the redevelopment of Pairc Tailteann with work on the construction of a new stand expected to get underway after the conclusion of NFL Div 2 campaign next year.

Chairman of Meath GAA's Infrastructure Committee Noel Dempsey revealed plans to go ahead with the building of a new stand in the new year at last week's Co Board meeting and in an interview with LMFM he gave further insight into how the developement will be financed.

It was originally planned to commence work on the north terrace but those plans have now been shelved and instead the south side of the ground will be developed with the demolition of the existing stand and the erection of a new 5,000 capacity all seater stand.

The new building will consist of four dressing rooms, toilets at each end, medical room, drug testing room, match officials room, control room for crowd safety officer, facilities for print and broadcasting media, Ard Comhairle area with meeting room nearby.

There will be a wheelchair area to the front under roof cover and with unobstructed views. There will also be an equipment storage area and a players exit to pitch from the centre of the stand. Floodlighting will also be installed as well as an irrigation system and the embankments behind both goals will be upgraded.

Dempsey assured delegates that the work wouldn’t encroach on the pitch surface and the venue would still be open for matches, including National Leagues games. When completed it will bring the capacity of the ground up to 20,000.

“It’s very realistic,” Dempsey said of the plans to start next year.

“There’s always the caveats. You have to have funding, you can’t go anywhere without funding. We have a grant got from the Department of Sport for €6.2m and we’re hoping to get a bit extra on that because they have allowed for an increase in the level of grants to the various LSSIF (large scale sport infrastructure fund) projects around the country.

"We have submissions made now under the Immigrant Investment Programme for up to €12.8m and if all that comes in we are certainly well funded at that stage. Croke Park are assisting us at the moment and we’d expect to get more money from both Croke Park and from Leinster Council. It’s a matter of timing. The IIP funding is due largely to be in by March of next year.

“That (IIP) money, we’ll know from September onwards. It’s coming in over that period of time from September right through to Q2 in 2024, so, we’ll have a good idea. We already have €2m from that and have another €800,000 in the final stages of process.

“We’re starting at about €3m. We’d expect to have tranches of about €2m over the months from September right into January and February of next year. It is the biggest variable. We know what we are going to get from it but what we’re not sure of is, how quick we’re going to get it.

“But I’d be hopeful as the money comes in, even if we haven’t actually got it in the bank, it will give us leverage with Croke Park and with the Leinster Council to support the project going forward. What we don’t want to do is start the project and not have the finance to continue.”

The project is priced at around €19m with Dempsey also confirming that the GAA were on board.

“We had a meeting with Croke Park about two to three weeks ago and outlined fully where we were and they seemed to be happy with that. They asked for further details which we have given to them. Their main concern was whether planning is still in place. The finance is obviously of concern to them as well. They were supportive but also careful to say you can’t go anywhere without our approval.

“You can’t go anywhere without the cooperation of Croke Park and Leinster Council and I’m happy we have that.”

The Immigrant Investment Programme was a pathway for non-EEA nationals to secure immigration permission to Ireland on the basis of a long-term investment in a government approved project. Stadia redevelopments are deemed a ‘public benefit’ and require a minimum €500,000 donation, or €400,000 where five or more applications are received.

It was introduced in 2012 to encourage inward investment and has been a crucial source of funds for sporting projects.