Residents voice concerns

Gaelic Games/Croke Park: GAA President Seán Kelly has described as "positive and co-operative" his first formal meeting with the Croke Park Residents' Alliance, whose attitudes towards soccer and rugby being played in the stadium have become entangled in any potential amendment to Rule 42.

Kelly met on Tuesday night with representative of the alliance, who came together in recent years as an umbrella organisation of about 16 tenant and residents' associations.

It was the first time he'd personally addressed their concerns since coming to office two years ago, and the fresh prospect of soccer and rugby being played in Croke Park was an inevitable talking point.

"By and large I would describe it as a very good meeting," said Kelly. "We covered a whole range of issues, but without going into very specific details. Overall, though, I would say it was positive and co-operative.

"And, in fairness, I think the relationship has been quite good all along and I think they do appreciate that we've been trying to accommodate them as best we can. I got the impression that they are very anxious to work with us, and acknowledge we are aware of the concerns."

Clearly, though those concerns will increase should next April's Congress decide to lift Rule 42, temporary or otherwise: "Obviously there are concerns about the increased level of disruption," added Kelly. "But I think the reality is, whether Rule 42 goes or not, there won't be a significant increase in the number of games played at Croke Park."

The chairman of the alliance, Pat Gates, made it clear that Rule 42, or even the prospect of soccer and rugby being played at Croke Park, was not central to their concerns. For now, they are simply trying to improve the quality of life for the residents come big match days.

"We certainly don't want to interfere with the democratic process of that issue," said Gates. "But there is the issue of quality of life. So, while we wouldn't be specially against the idea of soccer or rugby or whatever else being played at Croke Park, we can't support an increase in the number of events in the stadium until certain outstanding issues have been addressed."

The alliance believes that parking and traffic and crowd controls are the main issues that can still be improved upon, but Gates, like Kelly, agreed that the level of co-operation was healthy.

"Of course, you can't put 80,000 people into a stadium without some problems. But right now supporting more games is like turkeys voting for Christmas. And there is still room for improvement in areas such as access and crowd control. But the meeting was definitely very amicable and courteous."

Kelly also admitted that the concerns of the alliance wouldn't be entirely irrelevant to any decisions related Rule 42: "Well no, I would say that because obviously there are people there that are clearly against that happening. If it were to happen it would require new discussions with the gardaí, for example."

The GAA has already commissioned an independent report into the various concerns of the alliance, such as match-day parking, stadium access, and rubbish collection, the data on which was collected during last year's championship. That report will be put to the alliance within the next two weeks.

"That report is almost complete," added Kelly, "and we will certainly be taking those guidelines on board. Parking is certainly one of the key issues, and that's something I've been trying to promote over the last while. And I think we do need to get that system right. I've already asked the project committee to put together a feasibility study on that area, and I think when we get that much sorted out it will make a big difference."

While parking options around Croke Park are clearly limited, Kelly is hopeful they increase the number of spectators that arrive by rail by providing more park 'n' ride facilities, an option he feels is currently being under-used.

Another of the alliance concerns regarded plans to provide alcoholic drinks for all spectators. Croke Park has applied for licensing of 11 new bars in the stadium - so that alcoholic drinks can become available across the lower tiers of the Cusack, Canal and Hogan stands. An outcome on that application is due within the next three months and before the start of the championship.

"The jury is still out on that one," added Gates. "There are fears that those bars will compound some of the problems, but they may also take some of the drinking off the streets and also stagger the flow of people coming in and out of the stadium. That is something which will also need to be observed independently."

Croke Park is also unique among stadiums in Europe in that it is designed for horizontal rather than vertical segregation, which allows for movement all around the stadium at each level, rather than from the top to the bottom of the stands.

That would cause problems in reaching UEFA guidelines on spectator segregation, and would provide yet another stumbling block should soccer matches ever take place in the stadium.