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Ground Development: BALBRIGGAN RFC
Balbriggan Rugby Club welcomes the announcement that Fingal County Council have written to Minister Cullen recommending the Balbriggan RFC/Kingfisher swimming pool project.
Club President, Robert Cashell, noted that it was great to get receive the news and that hopefully now the project would move on at full speed. In noting that he understood that the members of the Skerries project would be very disappointed at this stage and he acknowledged that without their initial efforts in obtaining approval for a grant there would be no pool coming to the area.
He went on to explain that the Rugby Club had been working on this project for the last 6 years. Initially they were targeting the new round of pool grants which were to have been unveiled prior to the last election but never materialised. After the election the Club continued to lobby for government support and then last October it was announced that the next round had been postponed indefinitely. At that stage they were exploring all options and in particular given the downturn in the economy was the Ballast Pit project going to materialise. As the Club had a project ready to go they did not want to see a pool lost to North Fingal.
Over the last month the Council have been working closely with both parties to see what was viable and have concluded that the Balbriggan project was the one with the best opportunity of coming to fruition in the short term.
Club President Cashell took the opportunity to thank all those who had helped over the last six years in bringing the project to its present state. One of the key aspects of the project was to ensure that there is good public access to the facility. The club worked initially with David McNally and then Marion Browne in Fingal County Council to ensure that the Council were satisfied with public access for the project. Senan Turnball, Fingal Services Director, was also a great source of information for the project.
Local politicians will probably be glad that this stage has been reached as it may stop the continuous lobbying they were subjected to over the recent years from the Club. The initial concept for the pool in fact came from the IRFU who suggested that it would be beneficial to have aqua facilities adjoining the new pitches. It was former TD and Rugby International Jim Glennon who was instrumental in setting the ball rolling. Recently Government TDs Trevor Sargent and Michael Kennedy have borne the bulk of the lobbying effort with opposition TD James Reilly lobbying in plenty of Parliamentary Questions to keep the project live. At a local level Councillor Mae McKeon, has been a very strong lobbyist for the project. The Rugby Club would like to thank them all and all the other elected representatives for their support.
The project now goes to the Department of Arts Sports and Tourism for approval. Club Development Director Gerry Hennigan noted that as Kingfisher have recently completed a similar project in Waterford and have 2 projects operating in Galway so the Department should be familiar with the nature of the project and hopefully things can get moving soon. It is hoped that the project will go to planning very shortly and all going well it would be hoped that the project would be operational in less than 15 months from the grant of planning.
Finally Robert Cashell thanked all his own Club members for their patience over the last couple of years as time and time again he had to come back to meetings noting that they were still waiting for something to happen.
Hopefully now North Fingal will have a facility that everyone not alone will be proud of but also will come along and use and you never know the Rugby and Cricket Clubs may pick up some new recruits along the way.
14 November 2008 Balbriggan Launch Their New Lights Last Friday Balbriggan RFC officially launched their new flood lights. There was plenty of activity on the ground during the day as contractor James Collins put the finishing touches on the lights and Michael Rock laid out the car park to ensure that people didn't get lost in the puddles! it was a case of everything all right on the night. On a lovely winter's evening local TD Michael Kennedy did the honours of pulling the switch to illumate the pitch. The new light are 500 lux and of a very high standard. The players commented that it was brighter on the pitch under the lights than it had been the previous Sunday. Nottingham Medics provided the opposition on the day and helped provide a very entertaining game of Rugby. It was a free flowing game going for end to end, Nottingham took the lead but Balbriggan replied with a touch of genius from Conor Casey - standing indside his opposite number ot score under the posts. Nottingham replied with another try but this time the oterh Conor, Caldwell restored Balbriggan's lead before half time. The second half belonged to Casey scoring a hat trick of tries to one response from the Medics leaving the home team their first win under the lights. There was a good attendance at the match with Club members coming out in their numbers to see what Rugby under the lights was like. The resounding answer was that it was a great sucess and evening Rugby will a standard fixture in Balbriggan from now on. Next Friday the IIXV take on North Meath in a top of table clash in the Magee Cup at 8pm. Club President Robert Cashell noted that this was another step forward for the Club, the lights combined with the high quality pitches now gives the Club some of the best playing facilities in the country. The next step in the project will be the development of Club house facilities and the Club hope to make an announcement on this shortly.
Update 5 Nov 2008 Balbriggan U10 & 12 became the first teams to play under the new floodlights when they had a friendly against Ardee. Two poles were operational but were enough to give plenty of light for the kids. The work is hoped to be fully complete next week. The first match under lights will be on Friday 21 Nov with the IIXV against North Meath Update 6 Oct 2008 Planning has now been granted for the lights and weather permitting they will be up and running a couple of weeks. Temporary Changing accommodation has been acquired and installed on site. The Training pitch has been grassed and will be ready for next season.
Update 15 August 2008 Due to obsevations rasied on our initial application we have resubmitted our application at the start of the week. Subject to no further comments lights will be functioning by end Sept. Update 25 June 2008 Planning for the lights has now been submitted.
Update 6 June 2008 James Collins electrical have been appointed as Contractors for the lights. Planning will be applied for shortly and all goingto plan the lights will be up and running by the end of September.
Update 26 April 2008 Anyone who has visited the pitch in the last few days will note: - Walkways and fencing are now in place around the pitches. - New parking areas have been created on the entrance driveway and at end of main pich. - training pitch is laid out. The soil will be let lie for a month and scutch grass has to be killed off before they are sanded and sown.
Update: 1 March 2008 With our two sand based pitched up and running for the season the next part of hte project is the development of the training area. Part of this has been laid out over the winter and the remainder will be done in the next month with a view to sowing at the start of the summer growing season. As this will be one of the heaviest used areas of the Club it will not be rushed into service. Over the next few weeks pathways are to be put in around the pitches along with fencing to keep the crowds back!! Once the fences are in place only those directly involved in the match will be allowed inside of the fence. In relation to the Clubhouse and leisure centre development, the architects are now completing the final pre-planning reviews. There are a couple of third party reports outstanding and once these are received the plans should be submitted to the Counil. The pool part of the development will be dependant on the receipt of Government Grants but once planning is granted the Clubhouse facility can go ahead. |