The wait to use the toilets was a disgrace with kids its a disaster. There was a great crowd at the weekend and Connacht are not making the most of it with the way things are set up at the moment. I was at the game with kids and they were able to sit pitch side on the mains stand which was nice for them.
But I wasnt able to get the seated stand area as I left it too late which is also ideal for kids. Even if its very far down in the corner.
An hour before kickoff all the prime standing spots were taken. Great to see so many for Muldoons 300th game.
A Stadium with a roof with 15000 seats would be very expensive to build but would be great. The uses a city like Galway could make of a facility like that would be endless and over time it would pay for itself.
It was nice walking back into the city with the kids after the game but I'd hate to think what it would have been like on a rainy day in Galway.

Full house on Saturday night great to see. However it really shows the dreadful facilities we have. The queues to get to a portaloo says it all. Quite frankly it's embarrassing. Thankfully we had no rain as I think people would have left rather than put up with it.

I can't believe it can be that difficult or expensive to put right.

PS: I was on clan side of ground.

In town, 10-12k capacity, with a roof! I know the roof would add hugely to cost but I'd say it would also be a big vendor to attendance's as well as allowing other uses concerts etc which would generate a lot of revenue.

pinky wrote: Worth the 15 minutes.
Whether the state of the art dog wee testing machine was worth the 400k of our taxes is another debate ...

But they could piss it over to Connacht Rugby...

Worth the 15 minutes.
Whether the state of the art dog wee testing machine was worth the 400k of our taxes is another debate ...

Right, only home from another table quiz defeat and now I have to watch a documentary about dogs ...
www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/prime-time-extras-30003379/10697835/

They are going strike next week apparently because of what happened in Harolds Cross. Not having a good run of it lately the poor woof woofs.

Stumbled across Prime Time tonight regarding greyhound racing and doping dogs. Cut it loose.....

This is the main stand in Stadio di Monigo, which is kinda the style that's needed on the Clan side (with some terracing included at the front). Plenty of room for a dog track between the stand and the touchline (the mutts on the outside even get a bit of shelter from the rain) and the extra elevation means you could add some temporary terracing in front (on the track) for big games.

I'd say there's a lot going on in the background. Prob is dealing with councils and state bodies is an excruciatingly slow process.

Dealing with a group like bord na gcon where maintaining the status quo is a priority would in my opinion be incredibly slow and frustrating.

Simple decisions take weeks, complex ones months and years.

Patience is needed, not what we want to hear but it's the order of the day.

www.the42.ie/connacht-sportsground-move-3263667-Mar2017/

Sounds like sweet f all is happening. Leads me to suspect that their preference is to remain at the sportsground, but they are dependent on the IGB.

Shame. This is going to be years and years....

From the times.

The latest accounts filed by the body, otherwise known as the Irish Greyhound Board, show that it recorded a surplus of over €2.3 million in 2015 – up from just under €700,000 in 2014.

However, the surplus was largely attributable to an increase in state funding through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund, which went up from €10.8 million in 2014 to €13.6 million in 2015.

The profit from actual racing activities declined to €617,502 from over €805,000 in 2014.

Last I heard the IGB were taking the piss with the buyout amount they wanted for the Sportsground. 10+ million or something? They're happy out taking in the bar money from the ever increasingly attended Conncaht matches.

Not to get into an argument over the dogs (which most of us here don't give a damn about) but the closure of Harold's Cross has nothing to do with debt accumulation in the present. The main reason closure of Harold's Cross *was* to sell and pay down legacy debt, as per the IGB's statement and the recommendations of the strategic report into the industry.
www.igb.ie/talking-dogs/igb-confirms-clo...s-greyhound-stadium/
"The Indecon Report commissioned in 2014 by Government and accepted by the Board of the IGB, recommended the sale of Harold’s Cross to reduce debt levels."

Harold's Cross is the only track deemed saleable...
www.igb.ie/globalassets/report-pdfs/inde...lreport7july2014.pdf
"...site at Meelick, the old Henry Street Head office in Limerick, land in Cork and the sale of the Harold’s Cross track."

The reason the closure was controversial in doggy circles is it was one of only 3 stadiums turning a profit (Cork and Shelbourne being the other). The 2 nights racing at HC have been moved to the larger Shelbourne so those nights *should* be more profitable but this costs issue is very secondary to the sale/legacy debt issue. Debt accumulation wasn't a factor in the closure as the track was profitable and therefore not actively adding to debt.
www.irishmirror.ie/sport/other-sport/har...tadium-close-9811510

The value of the Harold's Cross land will depend on whether the IGB can get a partial or complete rezoning of the land but they are hoping to clear a majority of the debt from this one transaction. The Sportsground was not mentioned in the 2014 report as the IGB does not own it and it's lease was effectively worth nothing. Connacht's subsequent desire to re-build the stadium gives the IGB lease a value it did not previously have. If the IGB are asking for an unreasonable amount to be bought out it could conceivably take years to wait out the demise of the dogs.

Edit: Dog tracks have been doomed since betting shops opened and doubly so since on-line betting took off, but they're taking a long time to die. The Guardian's coverage of Winbledon FC's attempt to convert the last London dog track to a new football stadium is worth reading if you're interested in the detail of this subject.

salmson wrote: Bord na Dogs just bit the bullet and shut down Harold's Cross. Selling that should wipe out a large portion of their debt. So this could drag and drag.

Hardly scratch the surface of their debts (€21.6m) never mind clear them... www.rte.ie/sport/other-sport/2017/0209/851318-row-over/

The reason they shut it is to reduce their debt growth for this year, not to clear the existing overall debt.
Can't be many/if any of their tracks that generate a profit over a calendar year to help with a debt that size.... most don't have a professional sports team filling the ground every second week of the autumn/winter/spring to put cash in their bar tills..

They're down to Nine Listed stadiums currently... www.igb.ie/go-greyhound-racing/our-stadiums/

Long game is Connacht's best friend, there's no future for live dog racing in the state. People want to bet, not go to the track...

Great to see they finally sorted out the TV position in the main stand. Looks good. I'd be mightily cheesed off if I'd paid for an enclosure ST and had that big yoke stuck in front of me all season. I suppose it shows that there is at least some co-operation going on with IGB.