FORMER Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has helped broker a deal to end the long running dispute between the GAA and the Irish Handball Council Sports Centre over its facility beside Hill 16.
The dispute centred around GAA plans for demolition of the locally popular Irish Handball Centre Social Club and Bar and construction of a multi-million euro sports complex.
Local residents, who have proved to be a powerful force when it comes to Croke Park plans, feared the loss of a valued amenity to a complex that would dominate the urban landscape and intensify traffic and parking.
The roots of the problem date back almost three decades but last week both sides declared the dispute over by announcing a new partnership initiative as part of major redevelopment plans.
Under the deal, the GAA will work with Dublin City Council on reconstruction of Sackville Avenue to demolish Croke Villas, provide new housing and build a world-class National Handball and Community Centre.
A new entrance to Croke Park to take pressure off other local streets is also part of the project. This will need planning approval but, crucially, it now has local backing.
The new centre will be managed through a partnership between the GAA, the local community and handball centre members.
The deal is the result of a long-running mediation process chaired by Bertie Ahern, who still retains much popular support in the area.
“I am very pleased to have played a role in clearing the way for the renewal of a part of Ballybough that desperately needs it and in adding an important new mechanism for the GAA and the local community to work together,” he said.
The end of the lenghty dispute also paves the way for the All-Ireland 60 x 30 handball finals and semi-finals for 2016 to be played at the existing centre later this month and in October.
Chairman of the Irish Handball Council Sports Centre, Fintan Farrelly, said members welcomed the “new spirit of partnership and co-operation” with the GAA.
“We are happy that the long running court case has been resolved,” he said.
“We now look forward to a harmonious relationship with the GAA that will be an enormous benefit to the local community and the handball community alike.”
GAA President Aogán Ó Fearghail said the national sports body saw the new arrangements as an opportunity for it to make a “further major contribution” to the improvement and renewal of the area surrounding Croke Park.
“We look forward to working closely with the local community in the new partnership arrangements,” he added.
Local councillor Niall Ring (Ind), who attended the mediation sessions that ended the dispute, also welcomed the new deal.
“The presence of Bertie Ahern as mediator ensured that the goodwill which had emerged between the parties was used as a catalyst for meaningful negotiations and ultimately this terrific agreement,” he stated.
“The resolution to the dispute now clears the way for the entire Croke Villas redevelopment to take place.
“The redevelopment will consist of new social housing, a world class National Handball and Community Centre, a widened Sackville Avenue with a new entrance to Croke Park and a public domain plan designed to impact positively on the entire Ballybough area.”