Members of Lucan Harriers who will benefit from the grants
Harriers €43,000 funding boost will help develop athletics track
Lucan Harriers have received a grant from South Dublin County Council worth €43,749 as part of a community infrastructure fund.
The grant will allow the club to develop the athletics track further with spectator railings being installed and a perimeter fence needing to be established.
Club spokesperson Fiona Hegarty spoke about the importance of grants but touched on how they are implemented.
“We have four other sets of grants at the moment that were approved in 2019, 2020 and two others approved in 2024. We have a lot of work we want to get done on the track. Getting the grants is fantastic but spending the grants is another challenge.
It’s really about lining up with the county council on how you spend those grants.
We are resident on county council land and we’re very much dependent on them from a program management point of view to implement the works when it comes to grants that we’ve been given in the club.
It’s not that we can go off and secure our own contractor or anything like that, it all has to go through the county council.”
The club hopes that the €43,749 grant can be bundled in with the rest of the track development fund and that the council will group all of the grants under the one contractor which would see the process quicken.
Grants active at the moment include improving the Steeplechase area, enhancing the long jump area, creating a javelin run and building a community walkway around the perimeter of the track.
Design consultants have been engaged for the next phase of work, doing a consultation on the track about four weeks ago.
The club is waiting to get the results of a feasibility study which will outline to Harriers what has to be done and the potential cost involved.
An ideal scenario would see the club have development begin by 2026 with contractors being confirmed.
Due to specific temperature requirements when developing tartan racing track with months from May-September generally being the most optimal to complete projects.
Hegarty touched on how the club deals with the complicated process and why members may feel that development is slow despite grants being awarded.
“It is difficult, you’re telling your membership that we got this grant and it’s fantastic on paper to say yes we have that grant but members look at the tangible results.
“They look at the track and say ‘why is the fence still that way and why is that still that way’ but it’s because we are restricted on the timeline.
‘Some of the reasons go back to the fact that the council owns the land and we are leasing the track even though we have contributed massively to the track works and maintaining the grounds.”
“Look the council are fantastic, they know we’ve been here for 47+ years and that Lucan Harriers are not going anywhere, we’re good tenants but within some of the confines of the lease arrangements that restricts us proceeding and working away ourselves and taking control of projects or project management.”
The club maintains a positive relationship with the council and is currently making progress in securing further grants and funding for LED lights to hopefully be implemented for winter and negotiating a new lease deal on their clubhouse which they share alongside a number of clubs in the area.
An updated deal would see their name on the lease and entitle them to develop that clubhouse.
