New amenity opens in Sutton 

LOCALS in Sutton have received a boost following the official opening of a new leisure facility. 

Mayor of Fingal Cllr Eoghan O’Brien opened the Boules/Petanque Courts opened at Alden Park.  

Fingal Director of Operations David Storey, Deputy Cian O’Callaghan (SD), members of Age Friendly Fingal and enthusiastic boules players tried out the courts on the day.

Fingal County Council installed the courts as part of its ongoing commitment to provide high quality recreational facilities for all age groups.  

Local resident and keen boules player, Tom Donnellan, initially approached Deputy O’Callaghan with a proposal for a boules court in an underutilised area of the park.  

Mr Donnellan is a member of a boules club currently playing out of St Anne’s Park and realised that there was a need to have courts based nearer to home as many residents of Fingal were having to travel to St Anne’s Park to play.

The facility is free to use and will be run on a ‘turn up and play’ basis. The game is one of the most inclusive activities available where people of all ages, gender, ability and fitness can participate equally together. 

Instructions for playing boules and petanque are included on an attractive wooden noticeboard on site. 

The courts are a wonderful addition to the park, helping to meet the recreational needs of the older population in line with the council’s Age Friendly 2018-2023 Strategy.  

Fingal’s Age Friendly Alliance is committed, through the strategy, to driving a collaborative, multi-sectoral approach which supports interventions that will significantly help to improve the quality of life of the current population of older people in Fingal and of future generations.  

Speaking at the opening, Mayor O'Brien said: “I am delighted to open this Boules/Petangue Court and can see that it will be hugely popular with both locals here in Sutton and enthusiasts from other areas of Fingal.”