Kevins Hurling and Camogie club have published a video containing drone footage of their local area in a bid to prevent the sale of a section of the Dolphin Park playing fields in south inner city Dublin.
Kevins’, the oldest continuous hurling club in Dublin, share the fields with Templeogue Synge Street, however, the GAA have approved the sale of a section of the playing fields as part of a plan to develop the club’s existing facilities and help furnish a debt which the GAA assumed from Templeogue Synge Street.
According to JJ O’Mahony, chairperson of the facilities group at Kevins GAA, the concern is not any allocation of funding but rather access to playing fields.
Kevins Hurling & Camogie club offers to help save all the playing pitches at Dolphin Park, in Dublin's south inner city. @KevinsHurling #NowhereToPlay pic.twitter.com/QoVXsk37TT
— Cumann Báire Chaoimhín (@KevinsHurling) March 30, 2018
“The key issue here is this is the only green area we have, on the edge of the most populated part of Ireland,” O’Mahony told Ian O’Riordan of The Irish Times.
“If this goes ahead, we reckon we will lose about 28 per cent of the playing area, by the time they replace the existing car parking and dressing rooms.
“We don’t want a handout, or financial support, because we know there are clubs all over the country with issues. In 116 years of existence we’ve never asked for anything. We’re just looking to build a clubhouse, improve the facilities, without losing any of the land.
“And for us, this is a litmus test for the GAA. Are we a community based association, or are we more focused on the finances? Is the GAA about developing community, or developing property? Because the GAA finances can resolve this.”
