Alan Merriman and Conor Stevens cut the ribbon on the facility
‘Great relief’ as Tallaght Town open €500k all-weather pitch
TALLAGHT Town AFC have finally opened their new astro pitch facility Carolan Park last weekend.
The project has been a long time coming with initial plans and proposals made over the last few years needing to be tweaked and changed in order to receive approval from the South Dublin County Council.
Club Chairman Alan Merriman spoke about completing the project.
“The opening was a great relief to be honest, we went up there ten years ago and it was a hayfield.
‘We cut the grass and bought our own lawnmower, we chipped in €500 each.
‘We’d no money or great facilities but we had the land and three burnt out dressing rooms.
‘We demolished them and slowly but surely we developed a five year plan with myself and the treasurer Conor Stevens.
‘For the club house first and foremost and then with the astro that came later.”
“It’s a fantastic achievement because when you have 650 kids and astro is something that you definitely need because of the amount of bad winters that we get.
‘So many games have been cancelled during the winter.
‘The weather is so unpredictable, the year before last was horrendous and we couldn’t play games until the middle of March because of the waterlogged pitches.”
The club has further plans to add in a car park along with resurfacing the main pitch and putting in adequate drainage.
The bulk of the development has been achieved with the construction of first the club house and now the astro pitch.
The cost of development was not insignificant with the club house costing €300,000, this process initially started just before covid and the loan would be paid off within three years time.
The Tallaght Town Committee
The further development of the astro pitch is at the €500,000 mark.
The fee of €500,000 for the astro pitch was made manageable by smart savings and financial decisions from the club, with Tallaght Town AFC only having to take out a ten year loan of €250,000.
They secured this loan from Clann Credo, an organisation dedicated to providing loans to community organisations, charities and social enterprises.
The club has also been able to avail of various grants throughout the process such as receiving an infrastructure grant from South Dublin County Council worth €35,000 as well as a €190,000 Sports Capital Grant.
The club plans to pay off the remaining fees through self generated funds which include events such as the Lip Sync Legends event that it is holding October 10 in the Green Isle Hotel.
The aim of the club is to be totally debt free within four to five years.
