A NORTH Belfast councillor has called for a new dedicated Gaelic games pitch at playing fields where loyalists were previously involved in sectarian harassment.
Carl Whyte has called for a major upgrade of Grove playing fields, including a new GAA pitch and additional year-round playing surfaces to accommodate football and other sports.
The SDLP representative said north Belfast currently has "just one single GAA pitch" at Cliftonville playing fields.
"Gaelic games, especially Ladies' football, is undergoing exponential growth in this part of the city with hundreds of young children now playing in teams every week," he said.
"This positive growth creates a challenge for Belfast City Council, which means its 2011 Pitches Strategy, which back then identified an undersupply of 36 GAA pitches across Belfast, is now completely outdated."
Situated between Alexander Park Avenue and Skegoneill Avenue, the Grove playing fields were the scene of intimidation by a group of loyalists in 2020.
Reports at the time detailed how a dozens of men had gathered at the playing fields as members of North Belfast United FC attended training.
The players – some as young as 16, and some wearing Celtic jerseys – were forced to leave.
Days previously an anti-GAA banner appeared at the park as well as graffiti, which police treated as a hate incident.
An anonymous Twitter account called 'GroveNoGAA' was also set up.
It included the biography details 'Sectarian GAA & Sectarian Celtic FC fans not welcome in Grove Park' and continues to operate.
Mr Whyte said the city council "urgently needed" a new pitches strategy with "particular attention to the growth of Gaelic games in north Belfast".
"That means an immediate review of existing council-owned spaces to identify where a new GAA pitch can be provided," he said.
"As we've seen with East Belfast GAA, there is a template for the growth of GAA facilities in an inclusive way – the same can be replicated in the north of the city."
A council spokesperson said any decision relating to upgrading pitches would be a matter for councillors and the relevant committee.
