Council puts Wanderers rugby club sports pavilion on hold

Dublin City Council has put on hold 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 the council to demolish the club’s existing clubhouse and construct a new two-storey clubhouse at the club’s grounds on Merrion Road in Dublin 4.

Billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond has thrown his weight behind the plan by lodging a submission with the council in support of the application.

In a one-page submission lodged with the council, Mr Desmond told council planners: “This investment benefits the entire community by . . . providing enhanced sporting facilities and it is 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.”

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Wanderers FC is celebrating 150 years in existence this season. However, the club has to complete a number of planning hurdles before securing the green light for its sports pavilion.

The club will take comfort from the council’s planner’s report finding that the “principle of the proposal is considered to be acceptable”. It said the club “has detailed the reason for the new clubhouse and the facilities that can be provided in it, not just for it but also for the wider community”.

The council has asked Wanderers to consider the potential for a sedum or green roof for the sports pavilion, to provide more detail and rationale for the position of an ESB substation and clarify car parking on site.

The application has also been endorsed by St Michael’s College, St Conleth’s College and the Down Syndrome Centre, who all use Wanderers’ existing facilities.

Wanderers’ membership has grown from a low level of 170 seven years ago to a current level of 340 members. The club currently has about 60 male and 50 female active players.