CARLOW GAA officials have confessed to being “a bit surprised” by the discovery of a cannabis factory on their property.
The find was made by gardaí in Carlow town yesterday morning at a house and garden adjacent to the county GAA grounds at Dr Cullen Park and owned by the county board.
It is understood that about 65 cannabis plants were found growing on the land, which includes a building formerly used as a groundskeeper’s cottage along with some sheds. The house has latterly been rented out privately by the GAA board.
One man in his early 50s, from the Carlow area, was arrested and was last night still being held under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
The cannabis seized by gardaí from the divisional drugs unit and the Carlow station was worth about €18,500 and was the ninth such “factory” operation discovered in the area within the last six months.
County GAA board chairman Pat Deering said the matter was now in the hands of local gardaí but that the rental situation regarding their property “will be reviewed”.
He was told the news of the cannabis discovery by the board’s secretary yesterday morning. “We were a bit surprised, to say the least,” he said.
GAA officers are now awaiting instructions from gardaí on what to do with their property to restore it to a lawful state, according to Mr Deering.
It has been “a number of years” since the land was actually used by the GAA rather than rented out to a private individual, the chairman said.
“The person involved [renting the house], to the best of my knowledge, is not a member of the GAA.”
The nearby Dr Cullen Park is used by the Carlow county football and hurling teams for training sessions and for matches.
A Garda spokesman said the cannabis plants were found during a search of the house and surrounding land at about 9am yesterday.
“It’s a cannabis-growing factory,” he said. The only equipment found alongside the drugs was a “simple enough irrigation system”.
Gardaí have found eight other cannabis-growing facilities around Carlow town in the past six months, including one containing €120,000 worth of the drug some weeks ago, and another worth €65,000 last week.
It is believed the cannabis is being cultivated for local distribution and that the various operations found in recent months are not linked.