Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, is very welcome. I am going to discuss a topic that the he and I have discussed on many occasions, namely the development of St. Tiernach's Park, Clones. As he knows, it is much more than a stadium; it is the spiritual home of Ulster football. For generations, supporters from every corner of the province have travelled to this unique Border town to witness some of the greatest days ever in Gaelic football. The atmosphere in Clones is unlike anywhere else. The narrow streets, the packed terraces and the sense of history surrounding the grounds create an occasion that simply cannot be replicated.

As the proud home of Ulster finals, St. Tiernach's Park has repeatedly shown its ability to stage major sporting events, drawing huge crowds and generating a special intensity and atmosphere that players and supporters alike speak about with such affection.

With Casement Park now rumoured to be downscaled to a capacity of approximately 15,000, a significant opportunity has emerged for Clones. This is the moment for everyone to come together and make the case for the redevelopment of St. Tiernach's Park to modern-day standards. Today is a fitting occasion to highlight the exciting plans for the continued regeneration of Clones and the areas surrounding St. Tiernach's Park. Monaghan County Council was delighted to secure €664,668 under category 2 of the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, for the Clones Community Hub and Public Realm-St. Tiernach's Quarter Regeneration Project.I was delighted the Minister, Deputy Calleary, provided that funding. This investment recognises the unique importance of Clones, not just as a thriving local community, but also as one of the GAA's most iconic venues. The council is currently preparing to appoint a specialist design team to develop an ambitious regeneration project for the area. The project will include the design of a new multi-purpose community hub adjacent to the Gerry Arthurs stand, together with significant public realm improvements that will strengthen the links between St. Tiernach’s Park, the town centre and the Peace Link campus.

Projects like this are about much more than buildings and landscape. They are about ensuring Clones continues to thrive as a place to live, work and visit and enhancing the experiences of thousands of supporters who travel there each year for major occasions such as the Ulster final. By investing in the town and its surroundings, we are safeguarding the future of one of Gaelic games' most historic venues and ensuring Clones remains at the heart of Ulster football for many years to come. Investment in the ground means Clones can strengthen its position, not only as a natural home for the Ulster final, but also as a venue capable of hosting other major inter-county games, provincial events, concerts, community occasions and large-scale gatherings for decades to come. St. Tiernach’s Park has served Ulster football with distinction for generations and with vision, ambition and unity it can continue to do so for many years to come.

Clones is a unique venue. The Minister of State has been there on many occasions and with the rumoured downscaling of Casement Park, this provides a unique opportunity for us to develop Clones to its full capacity, which remains to be achieved. I am looking forward to the Minister of State's contribution this afternoon. He is committed to the redevelopment of Clones.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator for raising and the Cathaoirleach for selecting this Commencement matter. Senator Gallagher and I have discussed it on many occasions. I am thankfully a Donegal man. The Senator has had two bites of the cherry in recent years representing Monaghan so well. We have discussed the place of Clones in Ulster and Monaghan football, as the sporting heart of Monaghan and of Ulster and the need for what has been a great facility over the years to continue to evolve and be redeveloped. This is a good opportunity to be able to discuss it. I plan to outline the potential different funding options so the work Monaghan is putting plans together for can be stepped out.

As the Senator will be aware, the programme for Government commits to maintaining sports funding so that, collectively, we can get more people participating in all levels of sport. The Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. The CSFF provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment. More than €250 million was allocated in the most recent round announced in 2024 to more than 3,000 clubs.

Priorities around the development of individual facilities are primarily a matter for individual sporting organisations applying for funding. The Senator mentioned the redevelopment of Casement Park, which is a strong commitment of the Government and has been supported with funding under the shared island fund. The Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the GAA and the UK Government have made significant funding commitments to support the delivery of a redeveloped Casement Park. Officials from my Department, the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland and the GAA met recently to discuss how best to move forward the project. I understand the GAA has stated it is currently reviewing options for a phased delivery of the new stadium following the recent completion of pre-enabling works.

St. Tiernach’s Park in Clones has been allocated €870,154 over the last three rounds of the CSFF. In addition, the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht recently provided grant funding of more than €660,000 towards the development of a major regeneration project centred around St. Tiernach’s Park.In line with previous rounds of the community sports facilities fund, I have asked my Department to prepare for a further round. We will be opening that shortly, and it will be open over the summer. There will be an opportunity there for all clubs, including St. Tiernach's, to consider how the fund might support any works it has planned. The scale of the community sports facilities fund is small compared with the wider plans of Monaghan GAA and the county council for St. Tiernach's Park. In that light, the large scale sports infrastructure fund would be more in line with the type and scale of plans that would be necessary for the redevelopment of St. Tiernach's Park.

We have so far had two rounds of the large scale infrastructure fund since its establishment. There were announcements in 2020 and again in 2024. We will have one round of the large-scale infrastructure fund during the course of the lifetime of this Government, as provided for in the national development plan. The outline expectation is for the large-scale infrastructure fund to open in early 2028, with announcements to follow later that year. That is what we are expecting for the next round, which I know will be of significant interest for funding the plans that are there and their being considered during a round of that funding pot. We can all agree on the importance of keeping St. Tiernach's and Clones at the heart of football and sport in Ulster and the country, and making sure that the ground is of a standard that is suitable for the future in the same way as it has served the needs of the GAA and sport so well in the years and decades until now.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive response. I also thank him for his commitment to the development of sporting infrastructure in Monaghan and Cavan. I have seen that commitment at first hand. I thank his colleague the Minister, Deputy Calleary, for his commitment to the development of St. Tiernach's Park.

The Ulster final is hugely important to Clones town. A study from 2024 estimated that the match day was worth approximately €1.5 million to the local economy and €2.1 million to the economy of the county. It is important. Clones is a unique and special place. It has so much to offer. Many people would be familiar with St. Tiernach's Park, but the Government has invested huge money in the development of the Ulster Canal. Some €127 million has been committed by the Government for its development, much of it through the shared island initiative which the Taoiseach developed and a lot through the Minister for the environment, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the previous incumbent in the Department of the environment, who provided significant funding. It is an exciting development. The most recent announcement of €30 million is welcome and we look forward to that development. We also have the Peace Link, which is another important piece of infrastructure. Clones is a special place. We are now looking for the development of St. Tiernach's Park not just to host large football matches but to host other community events.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Senator on our shared objective of seeing St. Tiernach's Park continue to evolve and be renewed. There has been significant funding towards the GAA from the two rounds so far of the large scale infrastructure fund. The 2020 round saw funding for 14 projects to a value of €30 million. Those included projects backed by the GAA or which incorporated GAA elements of significant projects, including those at Walsh Park, Páirc Tailteann and St. Conleth's Park. In the 2024 round, 11 GAA-backed projects were awarded funding, including, for example, the Clare GAA centre of excellence and the Wexford GAA centre of excellence, as well as €1 million to Killeevan Sarsfield GAA Club in Monaghan.

There will be significant demand now that the large-scale infrastructure fund is an established part of our sports funding infrastructure. Sporting organisations are looking towards projects of scale to see how they can avail of the fund. St. Tiernach's Park would meet the criteria. It is the type of project that would be suitable to be funded through that fund. There will obviously be a competitive element to the applications that are received. I look forward to working with the Senator to support Monaghan County Council to make an application that will be considered in the context of that next round. I suggest the council should look at the community sports facilities fund to see if such funding could help St. Tiernach's to do smaller scale work in the meantime.