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21st June 2016 • Volume 23, Issue 21 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. EirCode: K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
All-Weather Pitch For Rush There is very good news for sports clubs in Rush, with the news that the County Council are proposing to develop an all-weather sports facility at St Catherine’s Park in Rush. These works are intended to meet the increasing needs of local GAA and soccer clubs and to enhance the capacity of the Active Recreational Hub at this location.
By Patrick Finnegan Local councillor, Brian Dennehy (FF) was delighted that Rush was chosen for this all-weather facility and he feels that it will make a significant difference to the standard of sport in the area. Dennehy, who is associated with both St Maur’s GAA club and Rush Athletic FC, told the County Leader, “I am the Chairperson of the St Maur’s Development committee and we were actually going about the process of building our own facility. In late 2014, Rush Athletic FC put in for planning permission for their own small all-weather facility to be located at the back of their clubhouse. The planning permission was turned down because of an archaeological find there,” he said. Copying the Bremore initiative in Balbriggan, which saw local GAA club, O’Dwyer’s and Balbriggan FC coming together to share a state of the art all-weather pitch, Dennehy approached both St Maur’s GAA club
and Rush Athletic FC to try and replicate this very successful model. This facility will be available to all clubs in Rush, not just Rush Athletic and St Maur’s. “Both clubs agreed and we set up a joint committee and we approached the local authority, who agreed to champion the cause, by approaching the National Lottery, similar to Bremore.” From the GAA point of view, this new all-weather facility will act as a training facility, with adult competitive matches being played at their own pitches. However it can be used for juvenile GAA matches. It is 70 metres in width and will be used mainly in winter by St Maur’s, when training is very difficult at their own pitches,” he said. There will be car parking spaces for 64 cars, a bus, adult training facility, dressing rooms and shower facilities. It will be located in St Catherine’s Park, and the car parking will remove issues residents would have regarding cars being parked in the estate. For the GAA club, it will be primarily a training facility, which will alleviate the problem of teams travelling long distances to hire all-weather training facilities at other clubs, which is not sustainable, particularly for children. Rush is the only town in the North County region without an all weather pitch. It also means that neither St Maur’s nor Rush Athletic are being saddled with huge debt as both clubs will come
together to share the costs, as they will manage it for the County Council. The cost is expected to be about €1.3 million which will hopefully come from the lottery, via the local authority. The GAA and the FAI are both behind this project. This has now gone to public consultation and Long serving Fianna Fail councillor, Darragh Butler was elected County Mayor by his the hope is that people fellow councillors last Friday. The new mayor is pictured with his chains of office, which will be supportive of it, he received from his predecessor, Cllr David O'Connor. See story on page 7 particularly as parking will not be an issue. Balbriggan FC went from 17 teams to 37 teams since Bremore was opened, such is the success of this facility and the hope is that Rush will experience similar growth and success. Indeed, Rush Athletic were promoted this season and many put that down to the training they did prior to the start of the season, up in Bremore. “Fingal County Council have been very supportive of this initiative and it can only auger very well for clubs in Rush,” concluded Dennehy.
Disappointment At Moore Street Appeal The decision of the Government to appeal the recent High Court ruling which declared Moore Street a 1916 battlefield site to the Supreme Court, has been widely criticised by the 1916 Relatives’ Group. It has also been criticised by the solicitor firm working on their behalf, Swords based company, Hennessy Perrozzi Solicitors. Earlier this year, a court action was successfully taken by the 1916 Relatives Group which sought to prevent the destruction of buildings on the street. In March, the High Court ruled that Moore Street was a “battlefield site” and therefore was due protection. In a 400-page judgement, Justice Max Barrett said the “wealth of evidence before the court” pointed
to historical significance in some of clients are extremely disappointed the other buildings. These include and this disappointment is magninumber 10, a portion of the parting fied because there were a number wall at number 13 and number 18, of confusing signals emanating as well as the building at 20-21 from the Dail as to whether there Moore Street. was going to be an appeal, Last year, the government but now sadly the Minister stepped in to buy the site at has decided to appeal it. 14-17 Moore Street, the Whilst it is a matter ultibuilding where the Rising’s mately for the courts, my leaders met and decided to clients are taking some surrender. heart from the fact that the Minister for Arts, Heritage John Hennessy Minister, Heather and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys seems to be Humphreys argued that other build- saying that she relates the appeal, ings on the street, such as 13 and not so much in the context of the 18 and 19, “are not historically Moore Street battlefield site, but significant”. rather the consequences of the John Hennessy of Hennessy decision for future and settled Perrozzi Solicitors spoke to the monument decisions. I have to say County Leader after the decision to again that it is a matter for the appeal was made. He said, My courts. “My clients completely
disagree with that interpretation and clearly this will be borne out in the Supreme Court. However, they do take heart in the fact that Moore Street is recognised as a battlefield site and that something positive is going to happen to it. “In her statement, the Minister calls for a forum and my clients are cautiously optimistic as regards that. They have asked me to point out their concerns about the cost implications to the taxpayer, their concerns about the details of the forum and that this has been a 14 year long arduous campaign to have the battlefield site recognised, which was ultimately proved correct by Judge Max Barrett in a comprehensive and considered detailed opinion and they think this was the correct decision,” he said.