GAA director general Tom Ryan has outlined why Croke Park was not in favour of a new Waterford stadium in WIT’s Carriganore campus.
Rebuilding Walsh Park was the long-time preferred option of the county board, a move supported by the GAA, who felt a completely new venue would have been cost-prohibitive.
"There was talk about other venues or possible facilities in the city there over the course of a few months towards the end of last year' Ryan stated.
Tom Ryan confirmed, that the call on whether Walsh Park will be available for Waterford’s home Munster SHC games against Clare and Limerick this year will be decided by the provincial council
Waterford Co. Board Chairman Paddy Joe Ryan told WLR Sport they are determined to play those games in Walsh Park.
Paddy Joe Ryan says home advantage is crucial to qualify out of Munster.
Speaking to WLR Sport, Paddy Joe says capacity in Walsh Park will be limited if the home games get the go-ahead
The County Board Chairman will feature on Saturday's "On The Ball" here on WLR from 12 Noon.
"There was talk about other venues or possible facilities in the city there over the course of a few months towards the end of last year,” Tom Ryan stated.
"We did look, actually, at other alternatives and we did look at other possible investments, but the amount that would have to be spent before you’d even see anything above the ground [in Carriganore] was prohibitive.
"It will be possible for us to do a good job on Walsh Park, but they won’t need 30,000 or 40,000, but it will be possible for us to do something that is appropriate to the needs of the county and that they can afford.”
"We want to invest something in Walsh Park, we want to get to a stage where they’re able to play.
"Waterford people deserve to have Championship games played in the city.
"It’s directly one for the Munster Council, for them to decide, but I think everybody looking on last year, not least Waterford people, would have been disappointed that they weren’t able to play at home.
"I think some of the other things that happened over the course of the summer about venues and the choice of venues for matches would have given everybody pause for thought, to think that maybe there’s a different way to go about, not just Waterford, but venues in general.
"There’s a plan to do up Walsh Park and to invest significant funds in that and we’ll play our part in that with Munster and along with the county themselves.
"Whether it’s this year or whether it’s in subsequent years, I can’t, hand on heart, say at this point and it’s directly one for Munster Council rather than for myself.
"But certainly the will is there to make sure that games can be played in Walsh Park.”
GAA Director General, Tom Ryan, says the Association is fully committed to redeveloping Casement Park in Belfast and Walsh Park in Waterford.
— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 31, 2019
