Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

[placid casual]

An article in the independent today mentioning increasing seating capacity in tallaght stadium apparently.
Wonder will they fill in the corners?
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/cycle-lanes-a-new-harbour-and-college-green-goes-bus-free-the-big-changes-happening-in-dublin-this-year/a419626789.html

[Kingdom]

Yeah and I still wouldnt want him playing another high contact sport if I was his professional club, I still think its is bizzare. It wouldnt have been miles away from Roy Keane being back in Cork and truning out for Cobh in a playoff when a Manchester United player - I know registration rules wouldnt actually allow this but thats AFLs issue or the GAA were players can still be parahuted in to a squad when they happen to be home on holidays.
Mark O'Connor and his family are registered Dingle members and always have been. He plays for the club every time he comes back home. In the case of Daingean, they are missing their starting midfielder in Barry Dan Sullivan due an ACL he suffered playing with Kerry, so getting Mark was a godsend.


But that case aside Im sure we all know of case where 'star' players, absent for hard slog of aGAA season and are flown in when a club looks like they could make a final.
To be fair, that's every inter-county player in the bigger counties - i.e. they only play with their club for Championship matches.

[pineapple stu]

An article in the independent today mentioning increasing seating capacity in tallaght stadium apparently.
Wonder will they fill in the corners?
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/cycle-lanes-a-new-harbour-and-college-green-goes-bus-free-the-big-changes-happening-in-dublin-this-year/a419626789.html
A strange question for the LoI in this day and age, but...are extra seats needed?

[nr637]

An article in the independent today mentioning increasing seating capacity in tallaght stadium apparently.
Wonder will they fill in the corners?
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/cycle-lanes-a-new-harbour-and-college-green-goes-bus-free-the-big-changes-happening-in-dublin-this-year/a419626789.html

The 10,134 paying fans who watched Shelbourne lose 0-3 to Crystal Palace in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday night 11th December 2025, resulted in the Reds breaking the attendance record for a competitive game in the Tallaght Stadium.

[passinginterest]

An article in the independent today mentioning increasing seating capacity in tallaght stadium apparently.
Wonder will they fill in the corners?
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/cycle-lanes-a-new-harbour-and-college-green-goes-bus-free-the-big-changes-happening-in-dublin-this-year/a419626789.html

There's nothing in the 2026 SDCC draft budget about adding seats. It's allocating 100k to host a concert there in the summer and mentions completion of work on the dugouts and floodlights. If there are plans for more seats it's not in 2026 or the money is coming from another source. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/draft-budget-2026.pdf

[Roones26]

A strange question for the LoI in this day and age, but...are extra seats needed?

Probably is the short answer. Maybe not necessarily on a week-to-week basis, but it's a big leap between 10,500 and the 51,000 of the Aviva so having more seats in Tallaght is likely no harm


An article in the independent today mentioning increasing seating capacity in tallaght stadium apparently.
Wonder will they fill in the corners?
https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/dublin-news/cycle-lanes-a-new-harbour-and-college-green-goes-bus-free-the-big-changes-happening-in-dublin-this-year/a419626789.html

The issue I'd think for Tallaght regarding adding capacity at this stage is that all the easy, very doable stuff is done right? infilling the corners likely involves signifcant works to the existing stands that are there specifically I would think in respect of the roofs, no two of which are the same, and moving the floodlights etc as well as the fact i dont think the North Stand corners can be filled based on the design ? which would make me think its capital intensive for not a huge return capacity wise for how often the capacity would be filled

Would not surprise me one bit if it was more economical to knock the West Stand and double capacity there

[Kingdom]

Probably is the short answer. Maybe not necessarily on a week-to-week basis, but it's a big leap between 10,500 and the 51,000 of the Aviva so having more seats in Tallaght is likely no harm



The issue I'd think for Tallaght regarding adding capacity at this stage is that all the easy, very doable stuff is done right? infilling the corners likely involves signifcant works to the existing stands that are there specifically I would think in respect of the roofs, no two of which are the same, and moving the floodlights etc as well as the fact i dont think the North Stand corners can be filled based on the design ? which would make me think its capital intensive for not a huge return capacity wise for how often the capacity would be filled

Would not surprise me one bit if it was more economical to knock the West Stand and double capacity there

The news article references adding office space, so it's possible that you could add 4 blocks in each corner to close the ground off and create a few levels of office space. See it in a few stadiums around EU, but might not suit Tallaght,.

[Nesta99]

Mark O'Connor and his family are registered Dingle members and always have been. He plays for the club every time he comes back home. In the case of Daingean, they are missing their starting midfielder in Barry Dan Sullivan due an ACL he suffered playing with Kerry, so getting Mark was a godsend.


To be fair, that's every inter-county player in the bigger counties - i.e. they only play with their club for Championship matches.

There are always reason some ok and excues, all boil down to best chance of winning. But it doesnt make it right that a squad gets a team to x point and a club then parachutes other players in. There should be some regulation against it, saving cost to an amateur sport. Even just registering a player who is in Boston on the off chance he might be needed doesnt sit well. But for another professional sport and club, to allow one of their contracted and paid players fly off to the other side of the world to play another physical code is still bizarre. Who covers cost if an injury hapened, what insurance pays the wages or if long term replacing the player, god forbid a career ending situation, who reconciles that. Its not an issue with GAA, I just think its mad from his employer. Even within GAA dual players are discourged and mostly a thing of the past. You very rarely get lads who play LoI and also play some GAA any more. Rugby League put a stop to lads playig Union in their spare time before Union professionalised. Loading is very highly managed even withing Union in terms of club, province, international and for some Lions participation. Off season is a break not to go off an play something else. Cricket is the only other sport I can think of where contracted players can go and sign up for something like the Indian Criket League in an off season. Its quiet on the LoI front so while off topic, theres not a whole lot going on.

[Buckett]

Were you usually a sub during your playing days by any chance?

[Nesta99]

No actually. Didnt play GAA after I was 11 when they wouldnt give a jersey to a guy with special needs cause, to quote 'you wont be getting on anyway' so manager put that sub shirt back in the bag. Even at that age I knew it stank so I quit gah, played hockey instead as a econd sport and while not my preferred spor turned out to be the one I was good at (spent summers with family in Tipperary all sport involved a stick) and reached provinical level underage, became interesed in other things when I went to university which I regret now not taking the chance more seriously.

Not sure why it matters. Sub or not I still think when you have signed a professional contract with one club in a sport, heading off to the other side to play another sport is daft. Could impact the plavers ability to earn, and the clubs investment. If you think I have a grudge because someone was parachuted in to my place, no! But I still think that a side to gets to a final should be allowed play the final. Its no different imo than kids coaches that have a 1st XI and dont play other kids like its Champions League, not squad or player development its personal ego.

[Buller]

I remember I was told to give up playing soccer as its a "micky mouse" sport by my GAA manager. Eventually gave up gaelic despite the pressure as I just preferred playing soccer. That was nearly 20 years ago now but its always been discouraged to play both.

[Kingdom]

But I still think that a side to gets to a final should be allowed play the final. Its no different imo than kids coaches that have a 1st XI and dont play other kids like its Champions League, not squad or player development its personal ego.

If this is relating back to Daingean Ui Chuis getting to the All-Ireland club final, then your comment is redundant - Mark O'Connor has played every match in their club championship run from group stage, to the All-Ireland final. He hasn't displaced anyone - special needs or not.
And to take it a further step, from the next argument I could see; no, he didn't play any county league matches, just like the Kerry representative players for Daingean Uí Chuis didn't - very similar to arrangements in Dublin, Tyrone, Donegal and elsewhere who compete for Sam.

[nigel-harps1954]

I remember I was told to give up playing soccer as its a "micky mouse" sport by my GAA manager. Eventually gave up gaelic despite the pressure as I just preferred playing soccer. That was nearly 20 years ago now but its always been discouraged to play both.

Same thing happened to me. Got to minor level at gaelic football, and was fairly handy at it. GAA boys kept on to me to give up "that soccer nonsense", where my football club were more than accommodating. Still with the same football club 20 years later and have hardly stepped into a GAA ground since. The same rotten attitudes remain at GAA clubs too, and there's plenty of examples of promising young footballers being coerced into giving up the game for some twisted sense of parish pride.

[placid casual]

some twisted sense of parish pride.

That's a great name for a song.

[thebronze14]

Same thing happened to me. Got to minor level at gaelic football, and was fairly handy at it. GAA boys kept on to me to give up "that soccer nonsense", where my football club were more than accommodating. Still with the same football club 20 years later and have hardly stepped into a GAA ground since. The same rotten attitudes remain at GAA clubs too, and there's plenty of examples of promising young footballers being coerced into giving up the game for some twisted sense of parish pride.

I gave up GAA after minor as I found the thing too clannish. If you were from a certain part of the parish you didn't get picked. Stuck with the football all my life. Coaxed into joining a junior GAA team in Dublin and played with them from ages 21-34. They were fantastic. Great camaraderie and they understood that it wasn't the be all and end all. They knew Football took precidence for me and respected that. Ended up picking up a few championships with them all the while playing football too. When I moved home I didn't even bother going to a GAA club as if you are over 30 they wouldn't want to know

[Shinkicker]

Same thing happened to me. Got to minor level at gaelic football, and was fairly handy at it. GAA boys kept on to me to give up "that soccer nonsense", where my football club were more than accommodating. Still with the same football club 20 years later and have hardly stepped into a GAA ground since. The same rotten attitudes remain at GAA clubs too, and there's plenty of examples of promising young footballers being coerced into giving up the game for some twisted sense of parish pride.
I also got to minor and told if you kick a soccer ball you'll never play for this club again. I replied "many thanks you made that decision easy for me" I went on to play a reasonable level of soccer they went on to become millionaires and bankrupt in more recent times.

[Nesta99]

But it'd be totaly fine to be contracted to play AFL obviously....

Im not questioning O'Connor's desire or ability, Im simply questioning the common sense of his employer in AFL letting him play elewhere during an off season of necessary recovery for sports people. I dont see this as a particularly crazy opinion to have. Things are different in Kerry obviously. If a lad from say Cork is signed by Kerry FC i'm sure they'd have no problem letting him go play for his Cork GAA club over the close season.

[dundalkfc10]

I gave up GAA after minor as I found the thing too clannish. If you were from a certain part of the parish you didn't get picked. Stuck with the football all my life. Coaxed into joining a junior GAA team in Dublin and played with them from ages 21-34. They were fantastic. Great camaraderie and they understood that it wasn't the be all and end all. They knew Football took precidence for me and respected that. Ended up picking up a few championships with them all the while playing football too. When I moved home I didn't even bother going to a GAA club as if you are over 30 they wouldn't want to know

In fairness if the GAA club has a decent manager he will accept lads playing soccer. Eoin Bradley is a prime example, he played Irish League for years but also lined out for Derry and his club team. He was on a podcast recently that he scored the winner for Linfield for Glenavon in Windsor Park at 3 on a Sat and was playing with Derry in Croke Park that night against Dublin

I know plenty lads who play local NEFL and also play Gaelic with their clubs