The Clare County Board have been offered a deal by a group of businessmen that would see a new 42,000-capacity stadium being built on a greenfield site on the outskirts of Ennis in exchange for Cusack Park.
County board chairman, Michael McDonagh yesterday described the €30 million package "as a very substantial offer and gives a lot of food for thought. It is a worthy option that I will have to put to my own people in the county".
The chairman added he expects a second proposal to be made to the county board from a separate consortium in the next two weeks.
He added the board's officers will be briefed on the existing proposal tonight and will then appoint an expert group to evaluate whatever proposals come before the board.
The trio of Clare businessmen to offer the package to the county board is led by Lisdoonvarna man Bernard McNamara of builders Michael McNamara & Co. The others are Ennis property developers Sean Lyne and Noel Connellan, who own 15 acres of land in the Quin Road area of Ennis where they propose to construct the stadium.
According to a spokesman for the three, the Cusack Park site - which is located in Ennis town centre - would be transformed into a shopping centre. The proposal would require Ennis Town Council to rezone Cusack Park for commercial use.
Currently, the 80-year-old Cusack Park has capacity for 25,000 and the board is unable to make any significant expansion - three years ago, the county board received over €4 million for selling two acres of land adjacent to Cusack Park.
A survey of Clare's 54 GAA clubs this month by The Clare People newspaper found that 72 per cent of clubs were in favour of Clare GAA leaving Cusack Park with 17 per cent against the idea.
If the county board opts not to relocate their headquarters to a greenfield site, they have planning permission for a €5 million upgrade of Cusack Park.
