Controversy has arisen in Wexford over the quality of the playing surface at the county's primary venue, Wexford Park. The county board have been advised that the pitch should not take more than 120 matches or 80 training sessions a year. It is now likely that the county teams will have to find other venues at which to train.
The ground cost €3,500,000 to redevelop and is one of the most attractive venues in its category (capacity 25,000). But delegates to the first county board meeting of the year were critical when it emerged that pitch adviser Micheal McGovern had told senior members of the board that had he been consulted, he would have advised against developing the pitch there.
County PRO Alan Aherne says that the revelation "wouldn't be regarded as a big blow" as the county's activities would be manageable even with the restriction.
"Some people weren't happy about it," he says, "but there is a tremendous pride in the finished venue. The problem is that we need a specialist training venue to cater for the county teams - like Kildare have in Hawksfield. In the meantime county training will probably move out of Wexford Park and go around the clubs."
Wexford play intercounty fixtures at three other venues, Gorey, Bellefield in Enniscorthy and O'Kennedy Park in New Ross.
At last week's board meeting county chairman Seán Quirke said that he and a number of senior management members met McGovern at Wexford Park at the end of last month and walked the pitch.
"Mr McGovern compared the pitch to a large golf green that will take a good deal of maintenance before it is perfect," he told the meeting. "He also said that it would never be a pitch that would be used continually."
Quirke also said the venue had never been intended for training sessions and that the county board was obliged to go out and find a number of all-weather pitches specifically for that purpose.
Vice-chairman Phil Kennedy said it is expected that the Park would have a "massively dense sod" in the future, but at the moment "that doesn't exist. Mr McGovern says this pitch will need top-seeding every year."
According to the meeting the pitch would take another three or four years of sanding to address some of its defects. Re-sodding the surface is impractical because the venue can't be closed for the required length of time.
The venue has been closed for renovations recently and will reopen this Saturday with the county footballers' National League match against Monaghan.
One delegate, Oulart-The Ballagh's Ger Doyle, asked had Wexford "bought the wrong product? We were told Wexford Park was the envy of all the other counties, but it isn't because we can't play on it," he said.
Dublin manager Tommy Lyons has made three changes for Sunday's all-ticket football league clash against Tyrone in Parnell Park. Paul Griffin comes in at left full back while Coman Goggins and Colin Moran return to the starting line-up. The players to lose out are David Henry, Shane Ryan and Enda Crennan.
DUBLIN (SF v Tyrone): S Cluxton; B Cahill, P Christie, P Griffin; P Casey, J Magee, C Goggins; C Whelan, D Magee; S Connell, C Moran, J McNally; A Brogan, B Cullen, T Quinn.
