Cuala deal to share Stradbrook with Blackrock RFC terminated

A deal which would have seen Cuala GAA club from Dalkey share grounds with Blackrock College RFC has been terminated after over a year of negotiations .

A memorandum of understanding for a ground purchase/sharing arrangement was signed between the two south county Dublin sporting clubs that was valued at €2.5 million and would in turn erase the rugby club’s €1.1 million debt.

The proposed deal would have seen Cuala redevelop the bottom pitches at Stradbrook into an all-weather surface. Floodlights would also be installed and hurling, Gaelic football, camogie and rugby would all utilise a multi-sports facility in the south Dublin suburb.

That arrangement has come to an end, with Cuala releasing a statement to its members late on Sunday night.

It read: “We are writing to inform you that the decision has been taken to terminate negotiations between Cuala and Blackrock College Rugby Club to enter into a ground sharing agreement.

“There are many reasons for this decision but both parties concluded that the proposed contract structure would not be workable. We had reached advanced agreement with Blackrock but ultimately the deal was not possible due to the complexity of the agreement, the timescales involved and the requirements of both Cuala and BRFC.”

Cuala noted in its email that donations and pledges from their 2,000-plus members had reached €1.1 million towards the proposed costs of the deal, ranging from €25 to one of €100,000, and that members would be refunded “as previously agreed” early in the new year if they required.

“We would gently request that you might substitute your donation with an informal pledge for future projects if possible,” the club also stated in the email.

Cuala have a number of grounds, including their traditional home at Hyde Park in Dalkey, as well as facilities in Thomastown and Shankill, all of which are leased from Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

The club intends to continue working with the local authority, while also “working with other sporting facilities to get additional playing facilities”.

The Cuala statement does not detail the specifics of why the proposed deal fell through, but does point to the club’s goal of developing another proposal in the short term.

“We’d like to thank everyone in Cuala who worked on this project and we’d also like to thank the Blackrock team who worked with us over the past year.

“Despite this project not proceeding it has been a positive exercise and as mentioned above we fully expect to have an alternative proposal in the near future. We will be in touch with members in the first few months of 2015 with further information.”

Speaking to The Irish Times, Blackrock College RFC president Seamus Taaffe also pointed to the small print of the deal as being the sticking point.

“We’d certainly be very sorry the deal didn’t go ahead. It came down to a number of factors, mostly the complexity of contracts, and logistics, but it’s been entirely mutual, a lot of groundwork has been done, and it has always been entirely cordial,” said Taaffe, who also confirmed that the club’s debt of €1.1 million remains.

“But circumstances have also moved on, in terms of our playing population. Our underage and minis teams have grown, and I’d like to think our club is on a roll again, certainly compared to this time last year.”