Croke Park order New York GAA cease redevelopment of Gaelic Park

The GAA have ordered New York County Board to immediately cease all work on the redevelopment of Gaelic Park.

Croke Park sent an email to the board’s executive on Tuesday to stop construction work at the venue in The Bronx. It is understood New York GAA have obliged and the contractors JJ Matthews are currently off site.

Croke Park’s decision came following a recent report that raised a number of questions about the administration of the project. The investigation was completed by a delegation, which Croke Park sent to New York last month.

Originally due to be completed by March of this year, almost half of the €5 million Gaelic Park facility rebuild is funded by the GAA’s Central Council, who have committed €2m. In March 2023, the Government confirmed they were contributing a €500,000 grant via its emigrant support programme.

In no uncertain terms, the GAA have also directed the New York board not to agree to any new contracts or financial commitments relating to Gaelic Park without first seeking its permission.

A review is now set to take place with New York county officers due to engage with the GAA’s national infrastructure committee next week. Further discussions are also expected to take place at Annual Congress in Croke Park next month.

The development is to comprise a two-storey building with new dressing rooms, function hall, catering facilities, a medical office and two development offices.

It had been hoped the construction would be completed by the first half of last year having been initially delayed by the pandemic.

Although Gaelic Park has been owned by New York GAA in the past and its staging of Gaelic games goes back almost 100 years, the board currently rents the site on a long-term lease from the adjacent Manhattan College.

Welcoming the State’s €500,000 assistance in 2023, then GAA president Larry McCarthy, a former New York chairman and secretary, said: “This generous support will enable Gaelic Park to provide a state-of-the-art facility that ensures that it remains the epicentre for Irish culture and heritage for generations to come.”

New York has staged a number of fundraising events including a hall of fame gala in the National Convention Centre in Dublin on the weekend of the 2022 All-Ireland senior football final.

Speaking to this newspaper last February, then New York chairperson Joan Henchy spoke of the need for Irish people in New York to put money in Gaelic Park. “We have a lot of our own infrastructural work going on this year, with the Gaelic Park redevelopment and land that the Minor Board is developing in Yonkers for three pitches.

“We are all still connected to our counties at home, but people have made their living in New York and maybe should think first about investing in the GAA here.” We have a lot of our own infrastructural work going on this year, with the Gaelic Park redevelopment and land that the Minor Board is developing in Yonkers for three pitches. We are all still connected to our counties at home, but people have made their living in New York and maybe should think first about investing in the GAA here."

It is second time in less than two years that Croke Park have ordered a county board to cease building. In July 2023, Louth GAA were told to stop work on a new stadium construction outside Dundalk pending a review.

The GAA had expressed concerns Louth had not established they had the funds to go ahead with the initiative. The tendering process had also been queried and after some initial reluctance by Louth executive officers the construction was halted.

Former GAA president John Horan was tasked with chairing a new stadium committee involving both the association and county. Building work on the 14,000 capacity stadium is expected to recommence in the spring. In total, the development is expected to cost between €25m and €30m, possibly over half of which is funded by the Immigrant Investment Programme (€14.8m).

Louth must contribute 20% of the final total and the combination of fundraising, naming rights, seat sales and club levies are expected to offset that obligation. This past week, clubs overwhelmingly agreed to each provide €300 per month over a 15-year period, replacing the previous levy for their training centre in Darver. The board will also be seeking a €1.5m loan.

New York are due to face Galway in a Connacht senior football championship quarter-final in Gaelic Park on Sunday, April 6. The construction hold-up is not expected to impact the venue’s staging of the fixture.

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