Clubs had no option but to agree to county grounds levy

Delegates to last week's Louth County Board meeting, of which I was one, had, in my opinion, no option but to accept the levy placed on them to go towards the cost of building the new county grounds.

Agreement was sought for a €300 levy per month for 15 years, and when it came to a vote, clubs were overwhelmingly in favour. For it to have been otherwise could have put the long-awaited project in jeopardy.

It comes as a similar levy on clubs draws to a close. After the committee that had been responsible for raising over €6 million, with clubs playing their part, to go towards the building of the Darver Centre of Excellence - and was willing to continue until a debt of around €750,000 was cleared – had been controversially stood down, clubs were again called on to step in and pay a levy of €200 per month for 15 years.

That arrangement comes to an end this March, and by then each club will have contributed in the region of €36,000.
While the Darver project didn't, for some reason, always meet with approval, it is now accepted as one of the finest of its kind in the country.

Tenders for the building of the new grounds have gone out, and the award of the contract is to be announced this month. With everything going to plan, work is set to begin in February. It is estimated the cost will be between €25m and €30m.

Club's contribution will come in at around €2m, with the rest coming from the IIP – popularly known as the 'Chinese Money' – Croke Park and the GAA.

When the first sod for the new grounds was turned over by the then GAA President, John Horan, in early 2020, it was envisaged that the opening game could be played within a couple of years. COVID, however, was an early spoilsport.

After that the financial plan which the County Board had drawn up wasn't acceptable to Croke Park, and this caused a further delay.

Croke Park officials, among them John Horan, then stepped in to spearhead the organising committee, and with work going on in the background over a year, everything seems set fair as 2024 drew to a close.

However, another obstacle arose – the project wasn't included on the list of Government sports grants. This caused consternation on the Monday morning of the announcement, Sports Minister, Thomas Byrne, and other local politicians the main focus of criticism.

Within a couple of days peace was restored. At a Zoom meeting, facilitated by the then Senator, Erin McGreehan, and involving Louth County Board chairman, Seán McClean, Minister Byrne and John Horan, with other local politicians keeping a watching brief, it was pointed out that mistakes had been made in the application, butc, crucially, the county grounds project would be grant-aided.

Given the overall cost of the project, the Louth GAA contribution – all of it coming from clubs – is small. That said, it will place a burden on some of the smaller units, just as the Darver levy did.

But as pointed out at last week's meeting, if, after being opened, the grounds begin to earn money, through naming rights, seat sales, advertising, and concerts – big rugby and soccer matches could be facilitated – then there could be a reduction in the club's contribution.