Football

It's high time Antrim Gaels got a roof over their heads: Collie Donnelly

Corrigan Park's facilities are in dire need of an upgrade
Corrigan Park's facilities are in dire need of an upgrade Corrigan Park's facilities are in dire need of an upgrade

ANTRIM chairman Collie Donnelly remains hopeful funding from Croke Park will help Antrim GAA transform Corrigan Park into a “mini Parnell Park”.

Donnelly insists upgrading Corrigan Park is of crucial importance now and after a new Casement Park is built and says the Antrim County Board will continue to lobby for financial assistance.

“We’re lobbying for Corrigan to be our mini-Parnell Park because even in the fullness of time when we have Casement Park, I can’t see Antrim minors playing a league game against Derry there, so we need a ground with better facilities than we currently have,” said Donnelly.

Last November, the St John’s man described the premature closure of Casement Park in 2013 as “one of the worst decisions in the history of Antrim GAA” as the move left the county without a ground with a covered stand.

New President John Horan has already intimated Antrim officialdom will find a sympathetic ear in the corridors of Croke Park to help upgrade the old west Belfast venue.

Donnelly continued: “How can we spend so much money on one facility when we don’t have a covered stand in the county of Antrim? It doesn't make sense.

“Once Casement Park was closed the priority should have been to spend a few quid somewhere else. How can you expect parents to take children to Corrigan Park on a wet, miserable March day to watch Antrim versus Wicklow? It’s for the diehards.”

The Antrim footballers played all their Division Four home games at Corrigan Park this year while the county hurlers hosted Dublin at the Whiterock Road venue.

Undoubtedly, a new Casement Park will be a massive boost to Antrim and Ulster GAA but it doesn’t necessarily represent a utopia for the Saffron county.

“Our case is in Croke Park’s in-tray. The day [former Director-General] Paraic Duffy was up two years ago, Paraic saw what was needed. When you consider the fine facilities we have throughout Ireland, we need something here.”

Donnelly made a similar call last year and was criticised in some quarters because it was the home of his club St John’s.

The county chairman firmly rejected the criticism and added Corrigan Park traditionally hosted Antrim games.

To upgrade Corrigan would also dovetail neatly with Croke Park’s £1m investment fund, over the next five years, to rejuvenate Gaelic Games in Belfast.

“Corrigan Park has a history in the GAA since 1929,” said Donnelly.

“It was the old county ground. That’s where Antrim played a lot of its game and that’s where Ulster Club Championships were played. I can envisage if we had a small stand and some terracing our attendances would increase.

“Our average gate is a few hundred people. If the facilities were better and we were making progress on a few different fronts wouldn’t it be great to watch a game with 1,000 people in the stand in Corrigan Park supporting Antrim?”