Shelbourne set to move

Soccer/National League News: Shelbourne hope to submit an application for planning permission for their proposed stadium in Swords before the end of the year the club's chief executive Ollie Byrne said yesterday after it was confirmed that Fingal County Council has designated the land earmarked for the development for use as a sports and recreational venue.

The club will now embark on a series of meetings with local residents aimed at winning support for the proposed move before planning permission is sought but the aim is to move on to the next stage of the process by Christmas with a view to relocating from Tolka Park within roughly three years.

"We're delighted that the councillors voted for the move to allow the move to go ahead on Wednesday night," said Byrne yesterday, "and so the next stage now is to meet with the council and the residents while also looking at the actual design of the stadium.

"A lot of what we want to do has been worked out but there are some details still to be ironed out and we will have to see what happens between now and the end of the planning process but the hope is that that would take about a year to 18 months after which, if everything goes well, we could be on site quite quickly."

The club has secured a 30-acre site in the area which Byrne describes as "one of the fastest growing towns in Europe".

The new venue would include the stadium itself along with various ancillary facilities and around half a dozen training pitches including some with all-weather surfaces. The cost of the project has yet to be finalised but it is estimated to run at approaching €20 million, a portion of which would be raised by the club selling its stake in its current home at Drumcondra.

"The fact of the matter is that there are various problems with Tolka Park as a long-term home," he says. "We are limited in what we can do with the ground, we can't really bring it up to the standard that we would like for Europe and it's expensive to maintain or to do anything with.

"The new ground is in a residential area that's growing fast and has huge long-term potential. Fingal County Council have made it clear that they want us out there and we're delighted with the way they've supported the move."