OMAGH District Cllr Pat McDonnell says the current debate about the future of the Maze site and the propsed statium there is of little concern to the Gaelic Athletic Association. The province of Ulster, he believes, is well supplied with quality GAA grounds.
"While I would fully support any initiative which promotes inclusion," said Cllr McDonnell, "I am afraid that the concept of a multi-sport stadium at the Maze would amount to massive duplication of facilities. It would make little sense to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on a project which ignores the realities of Ulster sports geography."
The West Tyrone SDLP councillor said that the scepticism over the Maze projct is shared by all three sporting traditions.
"Ravenhill is acknowledged as the home of Ulster rugby and that tradition should be respected. I am sure that a modest subvention from the public purse would be welcomed there," he said.
"Likewise the home of soccer in this part of Ireland is Windsor Park and it surely needs some investment. The fact that the weight of support for these two codes lies to the east of the Bann points up a strong case for Belfast venues."
Turning to the GAA, Cllr McDonnell said that plans for facilities in the gaelic code must be based on "nine-county Ulster terms" and acknowledge the existence of three large venues – Casement, Clones and Breffni.
"I recently attended the Ulster Final and was able to be in my seat in Clones in good time for the Tyrone-Monaghan clash (2.15pm throw-in) after leaving home at 12.30 pm. There was no problem with accessing the town or parking," the West Tyrone councillor said.
"Clones has a mighty weight of tradition behind it and it can be upgraded to a 50,000 capacity stadium. As such, it will handsomely serve the needs of west and south Ulster. Our colleagues in the two eastern counties have Casement at their back door," he pointed out.
"I cannot see the need for the construction of an enormously expensive stadium at the Maze. While a small area should be retained for its heritage/historical value, most of this very valuable piece of real estate should be sold," Cllr McDonnell said.
"Between its sale value and the hundreds of millions saved, we must be talking about about well over £1 billion. I can think of many more useful ways to spend that money - health, education, and infrastructure in terms of roads and water come to mind."
