COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN / PALMERSTOWN / NORTH CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
QUESTION NO.7
QUESTION: Councillor N. Fennell
To ask the manager to provide a report on the uptake / usage of the new Airlie Park by clubs from within the catchment and outside. Furthermore, outlining any issues or challenges that have arisen and actions taken to address same.
REPLY:
Since the official opening of Airlie Park in November 2024, there has been a great interest and use of all of the facilities in the park.
In particular clubs from within the catchment and outside are continuously benefiting from the top-class facilities of the artificial grass pitch. South Dublin County Council currently have 147 active user accounts, approximately 75 of these accounts are associated with sports clubs and local schools with the remaining being members of the public.
Artificial Grass Pitch
Our Winter allocation period runs annually from October to April. Currently we have 11 clubs with 2 x 1-hour weekly evening spots with another 3 teams taking up allocation in Dec / Jan when the GAA season starts. On average, during the winter allocation period, we operate at approx. 85%- 90% capacity during peak midweek evening times. Any unallocated spots are available on a first come first serve bookings for any club to book.
Tennis Courts
Airlie Park has 3 outdoor tennis courts. The booking system has record of 335 hours (over 222 bookings) from January 1st – October 31st. The tennis courts are mainly booked by members of the public and not local clubs. We have hosted 1 tennis camp, run by Parks Tennis that accommodated 78 local children for an 8-week term, the program was extremely successful.
Cricket Pitch
Airlie Park Cricket pitch is allocated to Adamstown Cricket Club. It is currently the “off” season for cricket, so the pitch is being used approx. 20 hours per week.
During the next cricket season – March to October 2025, the club estimates that usages will double, based on previous seasons.
Issues/Challenges and Actions
There is ongoing challenges with Airlie Park as can sometimes arise with new facilities. This includes some anti-social behaviour and has resulted in SDCC having to replace the keypad a number of times. Other issues are a lot of littering in and around the pitch and dressing rooms. Our staff and contracted cleaners continue to remove the litter and clean the changing rooms regularly. Clubs are asked on regular occasions to report such instances to Public Realm if they arrive and find the changing rooms or the pitch littered. Once reported, Public Realm will reach out to the offending clubs and remind them of the T&Cs and that further misuse of the facilities may result in the loss of their allocation or access to the pitch.
There was fire damage to the pitch which is now being repaired. SDCC have engaged clubs and local schools that use the pitch to encourage kids to protect the great asset that is in their community. SDCC have engaged with the An Garda Siochana’s community guard on occasion.
There has been an increased demand from clubs for winter training spots. In order to accommodate more clubs utilising the facility, SDCC have implemented and encouraged pitch sharing between clubs where possible, meaning each club sharing gets the use of one full size soccer pitch for their session. This allows for 2 clubs to get the use out of the same sought after slot resulting in half the cost for each club.