The PRO of Ardoyne Kickhams GAC, Piarais Mac Alastair, has displayed his worries regarding the club’s use of the Cliftonville Playing Fields, which is owned by the Belfast City Council.

The facility is in high demand and is used frequently, not only by Ardoyne Kickhams but also by Patrick Pearse's GAC.

“We need another GAA pitch, simple as that, there isn’t enough space”, claims Mac Alastair.

“Belfast City Council have been shocking. Where’s the other GAA pitch in North Belfast? There isn’t one.”

Mac Alastair explained that the Grove playing fields in North Belfast could be used as a second pitch.

“The Grove, is a perfect example, it’s there, they can put up GAA nets and we use it,” he explained.

Mac Alastair also explained how the club used the GAA pitch, which is also known locally as  ‘The Cricky’ over the years.

“When ‘The Cricky’ first opened, I think we had ten teams maybe if we were lucky,” he outlined.

“I think now we have over twenty-five teams, so that’s between football, hurling, camogie and whatever.

“We can’t get all our teams on to it. It’s obviously shared with Pearse’s who are also building, so they’ve more teams, they need more space, they need more slots.”

Although both clubs have expanded dramatically over the years which has brought added pressures, Mac Alastair revealed what happened behind the scenes which bolstered numbers and he also went on to reveal his determination to continue the club’s success.

“There’s been success recently that’s been built on the back of fifteen years of hard, hard, hard work, coaches coaching, going into schools,” he stressed.

“On their day, Ardoyne have as good as footballers as anyone else… they beat three I think of the top half, so you don’t do that by mistake, you don’t beat the best teams by chance, and you don’t catch three of the best teams on the hop by chance.

“I think Ardoyne are good enough to win an Intermediate Championship.”