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NA FIANNA GLG says it is concerned about plans for Dublin’s new €3 billion Metrolink project.
The club’s home on Mobhi Road in Glasnevin is set to be both the home to a new underground station on the route and a “tunnel boring depot” – used as a home for equipment.
The emerging preferred route published today will see the high-frequency, electric rail service go from Malahide to Sandyford carrying 15,000 passengers an hour.
However, there will be impacts on areas near the build. In total, the National Transport Authority reckons that 100 properties will be affected, including 70 apartments near Tara Street in the city.
Among the others will be Na Fianna and Home Farm FC. The GAA club today issued a statement on the issue, saying:
“At a meeting in Mobhi Road on Tuesday night 20th March, members of the Na Fianna Club Executive were advised by representatives from Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) that the construction programme for the proposed Metro Link (formerly known as Metro North and due to commence in 2020), would involve the requisition of the front pitch and both all-weather pitches on Mobhi Road as well as Home Farm soccer pitch.
The first contact that the Club had with TII was through a phone call received at approximately 4.30pm on Friday 16th March, bank holiday weekend. This was the first time the Club was alerted that the new Metro Project would have any implication for the Club. TII requested the meeting, mentioned above, where we were informed of the severe impact the proposed project would have on Na Fianna’s home.
The Club is naturally very concerned and alarmed with this news. We are also deeply disappointed by the lack of respect afforded that a decision of this magnitude was advised to CLG Na Fianna, less than 48 hours prior to the formal Government announcement.
The club says that the plan will mean it will:
However, the club maintains the loss of revenue is a small loss.
Though significant, this pales in comparison to the potential irreparable damage to a generation of young Na Fianna members through having the heart and soul of our Club ripped out. Not to mention the inevitable fall-off in playing numbers among all age groups, through being deprived of suitable training and playing facilities.
The GAA family, including Croke Park and Dublin GAA have committed to full support for Na Fianna and its members.
We have been through tough times together before. From our founding members’ first struggles to establish the Club in the face of overwhelming adversity, from the rebuilding of our clubhouse after its destruction, and the struggles we have overcome to build a state of the art facility, and not only sustain it, but have it as the beating heart of the community. We have been through tough times before, we will rise to this challenge and come through this together.
Addressing the issue at today’s launch, Aidan Foley of Transport Infrastructure said that the disruption would be temporary and playing pitches would be “returned to an immaculate position” after the works.
Anne Graham of the NTA told TheJournal.ie that disruption was unavoidable.
“There obviously has to be some disruption when you’re building a project of this size. There is disruption particularly around the stations and where you’re launching the tunnel boring machines.
“We want to minimise that and Metrolink is designed to do that. I understand the concerns people have and would encourage them to engage with TII.”
Na Fianna said that the club would not comment beyond the statement.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor Paul McAuliffe said that community buy-in was needed, but so were alternatives for the clubs.
““I very much welcome any effort to address the deficits in transport in our area but I do have concerns regarding the proposal by Transport for Ireland and the National Transport Authority to claim the main playing fields belonging to two local sports clubs; Na Fianna GAA club and Homefarm Football Club.
“While there is no denying that an infrastructure project of this scale necessitates some inconvenience, the impact of this measure on both clubs cannot be understated.
“Na Fianna GAA Club and Homefarm FC have been in our community for over 60 years and every Saturday morning the pitches of both clubs are filled with children of all ages. Alternative locations to facilitate local club activity will certainly not be easily found.”
The Metrolink plan would commence construction in 2020 and be completed by 2027.
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Maybe Wesley College could lend them a pitch in the interim?
@dodofrey: Na Fianna got land which was used by the community for gardening,and were trying at one time trying to muscle into Griffith park also a community park ,they are a typical grab everything GAA crowd ,the pitches they are talking about know once belonged to Home Farm soccer club,of coarse their local rep was Bertie,nothing dodgy there
@Robert Harris: Wrong wrong – you don’t like Na Fianna I get that, but don’t let prejudice get in the way of truth. What you are suggesting or saying there is untrue – totally untrue.
@Robert Harris: Bitter idiot. Na Fianna is an outstanding example of community initiative. They have one of the biggest memberships of any sports club in Dublin and close to the biggest juvenile membership of any club in Ireland. Their clubhouse is a major social centre. They are really well run and an absolute credit. I don’t know when they got their home grounds, but it was at least before the 1960s when I started playing against them there. They have a perfect right to express their concern, this is major disruption. Home Farm is a great club too. Both clubs have a home base for decades and use several DCC pitches all round the area.
@Donnacadh Hurley: Totally agree, my kids have played out there and it’s a great set-up
@Austin Rock: I was born in 1948 ,and when we grew up the community gardening plots were there for the people to grow their food,that is now Na Fianna playing pitches ,also you can check they tried to extend those play areas into Griffith park,this was about 10 years ago and FF councillor Mary Fitzpatrick was the driving force behind this at political level,she fell out with Bertie possibly over this
@Donnacadh Hurley: I am not bitter nor am i an idiot ,those comments you make about me , say a lot about you
@Robert Harris: So back up the allegations you made. How did Bertie get them the land? If he had anything to do with it he must have had a lot of influence for a teenager! When exactly was their place used for community gardening? When did Home Farm FC have this site? And calling GAA people a “typical grab everything crowd” is as bitter as it gets. I think “bitter idiot” is just about right.
@Donnacadh Hurley: Robert Harris is correct. Obviously the original set up of Na Fianna predates Bertie but some years ago a gate was installed in railings between the park and Na Fianna allowing an area of the park to be used for training. There was lots of opposition to it locally and one reason was that a sports club was given a key to access a public park outside of regular opening hours. The land the club is on is a mix of what was originally allotments for the area and land leased from Scoil Catriona. Some older residents were concerned that not only had their allotments been given to the club but now it was encroaching on the public space too. DCC ignored local opposition but removed the gate because the nuns and not Na Fianna owns the area running alongside the park
Progress. You put it on a sports field which you will ger back or knock peoples homes a leave the pitches. Its a no brainer. Not by any means an easy pill to swallow but very little they can do about it
@ChuckE: 100% agree
On a different gaa note jayo is set to get an 8 week ban while Andy Moran has no action taken against him bathing into the ref. DISGRACEFUL.
Barging **
@John Appleseed: It’s not disgraceful. Jayo deserves a ban. The ref dealt with Moran
@John Appleseed: one rule for the Dubs. Pat was very quiet on the Nice Guy Andy incident last Sunday on the SG, unlike his meltdown on the DC finger prod affair.
@Pat Bateman: WRONG. Automatic 3 month ban for what Andy Moran did.
@Pat Bateman:
From referee’s handbook:
Minor physical interference with a Match Official: RED CARD.
So, the referred with his punishment, therefore the Central Hearings Committee need to examine the incident and impose the correct punishment. As he was not sent off a ban must be implemented.
@Pat Bateman: the ref dealth with connolly too but he got a ban. Are you saying the ref didn’t see connolly
@Sean @114: there was more contact in what Andy Moran did than what Connolly did. If there was any consistency in the GAA this matter would be dealt with similar to Connolly’s. Just because he is the (undeserving) player of the year the GAA don’t want to tarnish that award so are avoiding it
@Sean @114: lol
Albert College Park is literally a five minute walk away with six or seven pitches
@Trev: 6 or seven GAA pitches?? You’ve clearly never been to Albert college park, they have 1
@Trev: and the DCU sports grounds and Tolka Rovers, I’m sure they won’t have any problem finding a temporary alternative, especially considering they’ll probably be getting a nice payout
@COYBIG: six or seven pitches that could be easily converted to use for GAA. Given that their lands are being taken for government use I’m sure it wouldn’t be a huge deal for the club to ask for this
@Trev: The gaa pitch is used by ballymun kickams. Where would the soccer clubs go that use the soccer 4 pitches?
@Declan Leonard: I’m sure a workable solution will easily be found. They’re not all constantly in use at the same time as far as I’ve ever seen (could well be wrong though). Or there’s the space on the far side of the park that could be turned into a temporary pitch for a few years.
Or else what’s the alternative? Go back to the drawing board for an alternative route? Because there’s going to be disruption no matter what way it’s done
@Trev: Soccer pitches in Albert college a single juvenile GAA pitch shared with Ballymun KIckhams – talking nonsense
@Trev:
A nursery every Saturday, mulitple teams at every age level in boys, girls and adult. Try and squeeze all of those matches as well as training sessions until 10pm every night of the week in to those. Absolutely no chance of it.
@Eoin Behan: DCU sports grounds then? Possible use of Tolka Rovers pitches? Honestly, I’m throwing out a few ideas here, what are the alternatives?
@robbie: what has getting a grant got to do with anything? Sports clubs around the country receive grants, doesn’t mean they lose their pitches down the line. Huge amount of fundraising done at grassroots level by members of the club.
@Trev: DCU sports grounds are privately owned and in use a huge amount. Home Farm may be able to use Tolka Rovers but the space there doesn’t allow for a GAA pitch. Is Albert College not being used as a depot for this as well? If not, why not use that instead of taking away a club that is one of the biggest in the country and has huge membership in the area.
@Trev: as it stands Na Fianna cannot accommodate all the teams and some train in Johnston Park and further afield. Just recently the suggestion was that Crossguns Bridge was where it would be located. Surely it would make more sense too with its proximity to Luas cross-city.
@Eoin Behan: wouldn’t using the park as a depot have a bigger effect on the community? Like you say it’s already used by a large number of clubs, and other locals that aren’t involved in GAA
@EillieEs: I’d assume the minimal space at Cross Guns is why a depot couldn’t go there? Don’t get me wrong, it’s obviously bad news for Na Fianna, especially the way it was communicated, but it’s an absolute necessity for Dublin that the Metro is built and if that means a club being inconvenienced for a few years then it’s a small price to pay
@Trev: I really don’t think it would. Johnstown and Griffith Park a stones throw from them. I don’t think 125 teams are affected by using the Park and less impact on 2 schools adjacent to na fianna as well.
People will complain about traffic and public transport. If you find solutions and build new transport they will complain about where it is and isn’t going. If you solve that they will complain about wasting the tax payers money. People in Ireland just complain it’s an Irish thing. A good old gripe and moan is all part of the day. When it’s cold they complain about it and when it’s sunny they complain it’s to hot. They complain about the government their jobs their holidays their local shop the cats and dogs the moon the stars the cabbage unicorns basically anything. Absolutely anything. When the see the lotto is going to be 15 million they’ll complain amount that saying it’s to much a million is enough for anyone.
@Danny Llama: Leave the unicorns out of this.
€€€
As far as I know Paschal o Donoghue and his kids are members . I’ve a feeling they ll be grand .
@Conor Flood:
Paschal lives a stones throw away from Finbarrs GAA but he may prefer to be associated with Glasnevin rather than Cabra. After all there’s not many Proctor and Gamble shareholders living in Cabra.
@Christy Nolan: Phibsboro is in catchment area of nafianna
Jaysus…just build the effin’ thing…and quicker than 2027 – the Chinese would build a new city including a huge metro in half that time.
@Dessie Deratta: The Chinese ”A great bunch of lads”
@Dessie Deratta: you should head off to China and live there. You’d get to have your new city and huge metro in no time, and we’d have one less moany shite to listen too. It’s a win win!
@pat Bateman , if DC got 8 weeks for assaulting the lineman with his pinkie , Andy Moran who took a few seconds to decide to charge the Ref should get at least 12 months
I think the ref should have sent him off ,
Bet if he had of been a dublin player , that Kerry tool on the Sunday game would have been calling fir him to be arrested and charged with assault
@Andy Moylan: he already was charged with assault so no need. It was in phibsboro
@Andy Moylan: read the GAA rule book
Clearly many of the “Keyboard Warriors” on here have never been involved in creating a community based sporting and social club. I wonder if they are more familiar with an Oligarch’s or a Multinational Company’s plaything?
@Brian Carroll: Oligarch. That’s a nice word Brian, you must be real brainy yah lucky thing what’s it mean?
@Danny Llama: ___ It’s that well known Irish entrepreneur Pat O’Ligarch, one of the fellas on Dragons Den.
https://m.facebook.com/CLGNaFianna/videos/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1
Na Fianna is a huge part of thousands of people’s lives. This is not NIMBYism
It is about not wrecking an integral part of our community.
This has to be built
GAA will have to relocate during construction, there is 100 of gaa fields available
@John O’Sullivan: where are they?
@John O’Sullivan: the most common sense comment I’ve read here. I’m a big believer in the GAA, playing all my life and involved in many aspects of club organisation. I used to live on Mobhi Road and know many people connected with the club. They are a fantastic example of a GAA club and do amazing voluntary work for the community. That said, the Metro is a necessary development which is crucial for the infrastructural improvement of Dublin. No planned route will suit everyone and Na Fianna will definitely be significantly affected. It’s not ideal to put it mildly but I am confident that they will be handsomely taken care of from a financial perspective. I’m equally confident that other GAA clubs and sports clubs will step up to accommodate them over the next number of years.
Na Fianna and homefarm also share this site with 2 schools.
Move the stop to the new Whitehall clubhouse and split the members up between Na Fianna and Vinnies – problem solved!
You can’t stop progress!
How stupid are people.
Metro hasn’t happened after 4 “plans” over 20 years.
IT WON’T HAPPEN…!!
This reminds me of bank bailouts. And zero money for housing. Billions for the Metro (which of course is absolutely essential for the country) and we are close to being a laughing stock on rural broadband. Talk about priorities?
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