Tolka future raises local concerns

THE future of Tolka Park is causing local concern following last week’s announcement from Shelbourne Football Club that they are surrendering their interest in the famous Northside soccer ground.

Shels reached agreement with Dublin City Council to relocate to a redeveloped Dalymount Park as co-anchor tenants with Bohemian FC and will continue to play out of Tolka Park under a new licence granted by the council.

The Dalymount redevelopment is expected to get underway in 2017 but may not be ready before 2020, leaving time for a decision on Tolka’s future to be made.

The focus will now shift to Dublin City Council’s future intentions for Tolka Park. While a housing development has been mooted for the site, this is likely to be met with some degree of local opposition due to traffic and planning concerns.

Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Lab), who was previously a TD for the area, said the announcement would be greeted with disappointment by Shels’ fans and concern from local residents.

He believes the stadium site could be integrated into a wider planning scheme centred around education for the Drumcondra area.

“A great deal of uncertainty has surrounded the future of the Tolka Park for a number of years,” he said.

“Recently myself and Drumcondra councillor Andrew Montague cited it as one of the reasons for our proposal for the creation of an educational and cultural hub for Drumcondra and District.”

Senator Ó Ríordáin and Cllr Montague recently hosted a public meeting in the Skylon Hotel where their proposal for the Drumcondra area to be granted a specific planning designation was outlined.

Ó Ríordáin says this would ensure local educational institutes could engage with the local community to enhance the cultural and educational life of the area.

“It is also crucial for us to have an overarching plan for the development of the area, with a large number of planning applications being lodged all the time – all of which are being assessed separately by Dublin City Council without reference to their overlapping effect on each other,” he added.

“We have invited submissions from the public until December 16 this year and we have had very positive engagement with many local schools and especially with senior management of DCU and St Patrick’s DCU.

“The future of Tolka Park must be placed in the overall context of the Educational and Cultural Hub that we are proposing.”

Labour councillors on Dublin City Council are now planning to forward the party’s vision for a University Village for the Northside of the city.

“We will be pursuing this over the coming months and look forward to the engagement of Dublin City Council management on the broader proposal and on the future of Tolka Park,”