THE row over the lack of GAA pitch provision in North Belfast has deepened further after Belfast City Council informed a local club that Cliftonville Playing Fields would be used for soccer for two consecutive Saturdays.

Currently, Cliftonville Playing Fields is the only facility used for GAA games in North Belfast, at a time when demand for the pitch has risen as the popularity of football, hurling and camogie has soared in the north of the city.

Also known as the Cricky, it is shared between GAA clubs and a number of local soccer clubs, in the area.

In April, local clubs – Ardoyne Kickhams GAC, Pearses GAC and Wolfe Tones GAC, along with local elected representatives came together to form the North Belfast GAA pitch forum and called on Belfast City Council to address the problem.

This week, Pearses GAC received correspondence from Belfast City Council that Cliftonville Playing Fields. known as the Cricky would be used for soccer for two consecutive Saturdays. Additionally, they were told that the markings on the pitch wouldn’t be reverted back to GAA markings for Sunday, meaning the ground couldn’t host GAA games for two weekends running.

Michael Bannon from Pearses GAC said: “We, along with Ardoyne, Wolfe Tones Greencastle and Naomh Éanna, have been vocal in recent times in voicing the lack of facilities available to North Belfast Gaels.

“With the Cricky being a pitch shared by ourselves, our neighbours Ardoyne and a number of soccer teams, to say it is stretched would be an understatement.

“Due to the lack of facilities we have been unable to secure adequate and regular training sessions for the teams representing our club.

“We were informed of communication from Belfast City Council that the Cricky, a pitch which is meant to be a Gaelic Games facility, was to be lined out for two soccer matches in the coming weeks on Thursday evenings and not returned to the original Gaelic pitch until the following Monday and so not to book any Gaelic matches on these dates; matches for which we have had booking confirmations for a number of months.

“It is massively disappointing that the Council consider soccer games on the only Gaelic pitch in North Belfast of more importance than the two senior ladies Gaelic football matches, one senior men’s Gaelic football match, two U14 girls Gaelic football matches and more than likely more games that have been booked months in advance.

“We ask for equality, adequate facilities and support from the council. Local Gaels again treated as second class citizens.”

Sinn Féin councillor Tomás Ó Néill, who is a member of the Pearse’s club, said the current provision for pitches in the area was “not good enough”.

“GAA facilities can't be rendered useless for days on end to facilitate solitary soccer matches,” he said.

“Equally, clubs and codes shouldn't be pitted against each other because of poor organisational planning.

“Nichola Bradley and I have been in contact with Pearse's and Kickhams and engaging with Belfast City Council already to ensure this is resolved but as we all know, GAA need access to more facilities and upcoming Pitches Strategy will be first step in addressing.”

A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: “As participation in different sports has grown across the city in recent years, so too for the demand for our pitches and other outdoor sports facilities.

“We aim to accommodate and balance requests for bookings at all our sites as fairly as possible. We also have to allow time for pitches to rest and recover, so all teams can enjoy good quality playing surfaces.

“Our staff are aware of the upcoming fixture requests at Cliftonville Playing Fields and will be reaching out to teams impacted to minimise any disruption and make best use of the space available at the site.”