Desmond helps drive rugby club’s plans over the line
DUBLIN City Council has given the green light to ambitious plans for a new sports pavilion for one of the oldest rugby clubs in the country.
Earlier this year, Wanderers FC lodged plans with Dublin City Council to demolish the club’s existing clubhouse and build a new two-storey home at the club’s grounds on Merrion Road, in Dublin 4.
Billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond threw his weight behind the plan by lodging a submission with the city council in support of the application.
In a one-page submission, Mr Desmond told council planners “this investment benefits the entire community by not alone providing enhanced sporting facilities and it is great to see this planning application going in so that these wonderful lands are preserved for the community, instead of the development of apartment blocks”.
The council granted planning permission for the proposal after finding the principle of the proposal is considered to be acceptable as the applicant has detailed the reasoning for the new clubhouse and the facilities that can be provided in it, not just for it but also for the wider community.
One of the conditions attached requires Wanderers to pay €121,600 in planning contributions. The council had put the plan on hold earlier this year arising from technical issues concerning the application. Planning has been granted after the club replied to a request for further information on their plan.
In his letter, Mr Desmond enthused “it is great to have clubs like Old Belvedere RFC and Wanderers – the second oldest rugby club in Ireland in such a residential area, providing excellent playing fields for senior, junior and under-age teams”.
On behalf of the Desmond family, Mr Desmond said: “It is important these clubs continue to invest in their facilities and I am delighted that Wanderers are going to make a major investment to upgrade their premises.”
It comes after Mr Desmond objected to the development of housing near RTÉ in Dublin 4.
He claimed plans to build 611 apartments on former RTÉ land are akin to ‘Ballymun Towers South Dublin’ and could become “modern-day slums”. In a blistering letter to local politicians, he threatened to use his “resources” to fight fast-track planning laws “all the way to the European Courts”.