Local club wants to break up city’s ‘concrete jungle’

DUBLIN’S south inner city needs more green areas and recreational facilities, a submission to Dublin City Council by St Kevin’s GAA Club has stated.

St Kevin’s, whose clubhouse is located on Donore Avenue in Dublin 8, submitted a proposed amendment to the council’s Draft Development Plan for the area, which calls for the creation of a multi-purpose sports pitch.

The area in question is a combination of the Teresa’s Gardens, Bailey Gibson, Player Wills and Coombe Hospital sites.

JJ O’Mahony, a member of the Facilities Group for St Kevin’s, and a resident of Dublin 8, said: “There’s no other place that needs this more.

“The Draft Development Plan, in its current format, is the death of any sporting chance the kids in the South Inner City have.

“There are too many of these small little sit-down parks. You have to have a balance.

“Frankly, as a resident, I don’t want just a GAA pitch there and I don’t want just a soccer pitch or a rugby pitch there. If you go for a single pitch you’re going to leave kids out.”

If the facilities, as outlined in St Kevin’s submission were built, the club estimates that it could be used by 10 schools located in the immediate area as well as approximately 50,000 residents.

Dublin City Council’s 2014 draft document, ‘The Liberties Green Strategy’, notes that the only quality green spaces in the area are Park Terrace, Oscar Square, St Audeon’s and St Catherine’s Park.

“Whilst these green spaces are attractive, they are all small and support only a limited range of passive recreational activity, with no play areas, sports facilities or space for growing food,” the document reveals.

St Kevin’s held a public meeting in Griffith College on South Circular Road recently, which was attended by approximately 300 people from the community.

They were joined at the meeting by  Nickey Brennan, former President of the GAA, John Lonergan, the former Governor of Mountjoy Prison as well as a number of councillors, gardaí, and local community groups. 

At the meeting, Mr Lonergan  described the area as “a concrete jungle – bleak, dead, depressing concrete with no green open space or sports facilities”. 

The former governor questioned how children in the south inner city area could have a sense of identity and compete with children in other catchment areas when there was such an imbalance between the facilities available to them.

In a statement Dublin City Council said: “The report of the Chief Executive in relation to submissions received following a public display of the Draft City Development Plan will be circulated to the members later this month for their consideration.

“We are not in a position to comment further until this procedure is completed.”

Graham McGrath