Call for Harold’s Cross plan after stadium deal revealed

THERE have been calls for a local area plan for Harold’s Cross following the recent decision by Bord na gCon to sell the former greyhound stadium to the Department of Education and Skills.

Subject to a review, it is expected that a number of schools will be built on the site.

The Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton, said the exact configuration of the schools to be provided on the Harold’s Cross site will be informed by the outcome of countrywide review of demographics that is currently underway.

 “Under the Government’s Action Plan for Education, which aims to make Ireland the best education and training system in Europe within a decade, we are investing hundreds of millions to provide thousands of new school places in state-of the-art facilities across the country,” the minister stated.

“The offer to acquire the former greyhound stadium site at Harold’s Cross has been made with a view to facilitating the development of additional school infrastructure in the South Dublin City area.”

The decision was welcomed locally with Labour’s spokesperson for Dublin, Senator Kevin Humphreys, and councillor Mary Freehill both applauding the purchase of the Harold’s Cross Greyhound stadium by the Department of Education to provide for the future schooling needs of the area.

Senator Humphreys and Cllr Freehill are now calling on Dublin City Council to immediately start work on a local area plan for Harold’s Cross to ensure future sustainable planning for the area.

“While I was disappointed to see the stadium close, I welcome that the site will remain in public ownership and will now be available to provide a badly needed secondary school for the area,” Senator Humphreys said.

“In fact, development of a school, or schools, on the site, which is over 6.5 acres in size, would not preclude the continued operation of the stadium for greyhound racing due to the large site available.

“There are limited free, second level school options in the area for parents, and both I and my colleague, Cllr Freehill, have been campaigning for a number of years for a such a school to be provided in the Dublin 6, 6W, 8 and 12 areas.

“A large of number of new families are now living in the area, as evidenced by the expansion of a number of local primary schools and the construction of new homes.”

Cllr Mary Freehill added: “I have been campaigning for a Local Area Plan (LAP) for a number of years for Harold’s Cross. We have seen a large number of new developments and planning applications recently.

“At a recent public meeting we held, it was the overwhelming view of the community that a LAP is now needed for Harold’s Cross. This has been supported recently by An Bord Pleanala decision against an apartment complex due to the lack of a LAP.

“I also welcome the news that the department will review the educational needs of the area through a demographic review and it should ensure that Dublin 6W is included in that review.”

The board closed the stadium in February as it struggled with legacy debts related to the construction of Limerick Greyhound Stadium.  

Protests have been ongoing since then from both greyhound owners and breeders and racing at Shelbourne Park has been disrupted because of demonstrations there.