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Fans Protest At Maze Stadium Proposals
A small, last-minute picket has been called by the Amalgamation of Northern Ireland Supporters' Clubs to take place at Irish FA HQ on Windsor Avenue tomorrow (Thursday 19th January), just before the executive committee is due to vote on whether or not to give their backing to the Sands Siro white elephant Maze Stadium proposals.
A call was made this afternoon, on the OurWeeCountry supporters' forum, for any fans interested and available to turn up at 5:45 PM at the IFA headquarters just off the Lisburn Road.
The call comes two days after the Amalgamation released a paper detailing (and I mean detailing) its position on the stadium and why wants the IFA to reject the current blackmail tactics of the government and push for a stadium in Belfast. The paper, also published on the OurWeeCountry website, and hopefully soon to appear at StadiumForBelfast.com, has a total of 10 sections and argues against the Maze location. It contains detailed arguments ranging from economics to transport, the location and its contentious past, right down to the design of the stadium itself. Most importantly it details what the fans have said and refutes the lies and propaganda being put about by the government and other Maze backers (most notably politicians from the Lagan Valley/Lisburn areas).
One of the things I hadn't realised before was that while the stadium, as we all know, is being designed primarily for the GAA with other sports expected to fit in around them, there are currently plans to upgrade St Tiernach's Park in Clones (that's the GAA ground over the border in Monaghan) to a 50,000 capacity at a cost of some €12 million. Since the GAA don't pay VAT on ticket sales there, are they likely to use a 42,500 seater stadium in the backend of beyond, or are they more likely to alternate between Casement Park in west Belfast (30,000 seater) and the redeveloped Clones ground?
For the record, the GAA aren't the problem, the government are! You can't blame the GAA for looking after their own sport - that's their job. The government should know the score. That's their job!
The more I learn about the Maze shambles, the more I dislike it - and I've disliked it a lot for a long time.
The suggested Ormeau stadium is in an ideal site. It's central and in as mixed an area as Belfast can deliver. What it doesn't have is a potential terrorist shrine to allow Tony Blair to get all misty-eyed and symbolic about beating prison bars into goalposts.
Linda Gilby, Belfast Telegraph, 18th January 2006