Arsonatfootball grounds

June 2008

THE future of three soccer clubs hangs in the balance after a suspected arson attack at the Pavilion Building at the Temple Field sportsgrounds at Wolfe Tone last Sunday. Fire services were called to the burning clubhouse at around 9 p.m. and managed to control the fire.

Gardaí have arrested two youths in connection with the blaze.

Two juveniles were arrested close to the sportsgrounds in the immediate hours after the fire, confirmed a Garda spokesperson.

Due to extensive fire damage, the clubhouse that acts as a changing room for three local clubs has been closed down.

Members of Wolfe Tone Celtic, Sugarloaf FC and Glenview FC have all expressed their dismay at the malicious act.

‘ Three clubs train at the sports field twice a week and now without the facility of the changing rooms and showers it leaves the question of whether it will suitable in the future to train there,’ said Sean Stephens of Glenview FC.

He added that the clubs were able to retrieve any gear they had left in the building as the fire had not spread to the locker area.

A meeting will be held this Thursday between the three clubs to evaluate the situation and to discuss alternative arrangements for training. the four Greystones representatives opposed Monday’s move to allow the company headed by George Smullen remain in business at Timore Lane in Newtownmountkennedy.

The proposal to allow a material contravention of the council’s development plan fell just one vote short of the necessary three-quarters majority as councillors split 17-6 on the issue.

The missing man was Cllr. Jim Ruttle who made no bones about the fact that he would have swung the issue by providing the required extra vote. The West Wicklow independent explained that he was detained at what he called a family event and he suffered delays at Dublin Airport that made him late for the meeting.

The motion offered to allow Smullen retain two of the three buildings on its site beside the N11. If passed, it would also have required them to demolish one large shed, provide a septic tank, landscape the site and improve back roads in the area.

This was a considerably better offer than was handed down in the High Court last year when Justice Peter Charleton gave him nine months to leave Timore Lane altogether as he ruled the factory had no planning permission. Residents of the area, worried about noise levels and truck movements on Timore Lane, shared the public seating in the council chamber with workers from the factory as the elected members agonised over their decision. All the councillors were mindful of the possible effect on jobs but several suggested that Abwood Home could relocate elsewhere.

Reviewing a case that the council took to the Circuit Court in 2004 and then the High Court last year, county manager Eddie Sheehy said it had been a difficult application to deal with. However, the manager revealed that as long ago as 2001, he told George Smullen that he would recommend an application for a factory along the lines now contained in the proposals tabled for consideration on Monday. No application was received from the firm and the matter went into the courts instead.

Manager Sheehy noted that the business generates significant employment and he was happy to recommend the material contravention considered at the meeting.