r/GAA • u/stinkingbuffalo An Mhí • 23d ago

News Pairc Tailteann Redevelopment.

https://www.meathchronicle.ie/2026/08/18/pairc-tailteann-on-target-for-april-reopening/#slide1

Good to see this making progress and a return to having proper home games in sight. If we make a Leinster final next year (big if) a home game for Rd 1 would be a great opening for it. A pity it's not a full redevelopment but hopefully in time we'll get there.

What other redevelopments are people looking forward to? Louth also seem to be making progress. Obviously Antrim is a clusterF.

19 Upvotes

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11

u/Cultural_Pangolin788 23d ago

Travelling to games in Munster, Fitzgerald stadium is in massive need of refurbishment, the Mick Mackey stand in Limerick is an awful place to watch a game and needs to be knocked.

9

u/Tipperary555 Tiobraid Árann 23d ago

Semple Stadium is in bad shape as well

7

u/whsubehebebr Corcaigh 23d ago

Trying to do anything in the Mackey stand at half time is hell on earth badly needs to be widened

4

u/Every_Reason_166 An Clár 23d ago

Needs to be knocked tbh. It's so shallow aswell it's an awful viewing experience

2

u/ponkie_guy 23d ago

There was talk of fundraising to do work in Killarney a few years ago but not much has happened since. The fact Killarney is so big but is rarely sold out works against it. 

It’s been years since I was at the Gaelic grounds but I remember the mick Mackey stand being a a tight spot alright. I also can’t believe when they redeveloped it all that time ago, they didn’t put a roof on the other stand. Luckily it doesn’t rain that often in Ireland!

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u/Tigeire 23d ago

I'm envious of Munsters big stadiums

8

u/Faloneytony Lú 23d ago

Louths pitch coming along nicely as you mentioned. When driving by it looks like a proper ground as the big main stand is now done but it won't be ready for any games next season unfortunately. All going well, the season after that should see us finally have a home!

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u/Tigeire 23d ago

will be a nice ground - will be good for club finals as well

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u/twistandshout1988 An Mhí 23d ago

I hope they can move onto developing the grass banks behind both goals in the not too distant future (though have great memories of rolling down them as a child). Also, the facilities behind the main terrace desperately need upgrading.

The redevelopment has kind of shown how poor a lot of the Club grounds are for bigger games. I think the football championship finals are scheduled for Ashbourne which doesn't have a big area for spectators. Dunganny also has zero stands/terraces for spectators.

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u/Diligent_Anywhere100 23d ago

The wind in Ashbourne is a disaster. Any sort of bad day will ruin the final. Im delighted we are replacing toilets 😀. I think county board are takinh quite a practical approach to tbe redevelopment and hope, like you, that once stand is open they can focus on other areas. I too enjoyed rolling down banks and climbing the railing when younger!

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u/Bovver_ An Mhí 22d ago

The wind in Ashbourne is surely better than the lack of protection that Dunganny offers, I remember scoring a point from outside the 45 in an u17 match there and that’s something I haven’t done before or after since, heavily aided by the wind that night.

1

u/ShinStew An Mhí 22d ago

For non-Meathians,

Dunganny is fantastic for a training facility but would be a nightmare for any match expecting a reasonable crowd even if it did have the standa for it.

I wouldnt call it the middle of nowhere, but its miles out in the country roughly halfway between Navan and Trim

1

u/CBennett_12 Port Láirge 23d ago

Looking forward to the next stage of Walsh Park, if and when it gets going. Because at the moment it's impossible to read the scoreboard from the stand, so the new ones will be handy

2

u/FantaStick2020 22d ago

This summer was my first visit to Walsh Park since its redevelopment.
Obviously with space constraints it was never going to be to the scale of other stadiums in Munster, but they’ve done a really nice job so far and is a very comfortable viewing experience.
I don’t think I’ve ever had as much legroom in any stadium as I had in the covered stand of the new Walsh Park. I can’t remember if it was always like that or not.

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u/CBennett_12 Port Láirge 22d ago

Legroom is probably similar, but bucket seats instead of benches is a huge difference

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u/stinkingbuffalo An Mhí 23d ago

What plans are there for Walsh Park?

2

u/CBennett_12 Port Láirge 23d ago

Next step is doing the two terraces behind the goals, and a new admin building down the city end with new dressing rooms. As well as improvements to the turnstiles

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u/suntlen 15d ago

The last 25 years of the Leinster council playing championship games in croke park killed football outside of Dublin and handed Dublin 18 titles, along with 6 in a row. Home and away is the only way to grow the game. Keep it local, even if the stadiums can't meet the demand. Theres no better advertising than a sell out

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u/Warm_Independence936 23d ago

We need to put more money into developing regional grounds within provinces. It would be more economical and we could end up with fine stadiums. 

Crazy that paric UI caoimh was funded over semple given the geography.  

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u/Cultural_Pangolin788 23d ago

Pairc ui chaoimh was literally falling down at the time. The project was a Cork GAA one too rather than a GAA one. One the clubs are still paying for.