Snag threatens Lansdowne project

[Réiteoir]

Snag threatens Lansdowne project

A Dublin rugby club could delay the 365 million euro development plans for Lansdowne Road.

The Wanderers club faces having its pavilion on the Lansdowne Road grounds demolished as part of the development.

The club has submitted an observation on the planning application for the redevelopment after negotiations with the IRFU broke down.
more... (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/international/4719070.stm)

Views on this?

Could be a bad thing for all of us

/edited to add link which should always be posted - eirebhoy.

[Armando]

Imagine if the whole project was put in hold because of a thatched cottage in one of the corners. You couldn't make it up!

Maybe a group of us should get a navy seals type unit together and break into Lansdowne to burn the pavillion down. That would solve everything. Wanderers wget their insurance pay out and it's full steam ahead for the new Lansdowne........kidding of course!

[Roverstillidie]

to be fair, the irish times listed what the 2 clubs who play in landsdowne got for their troubles (bear in mind it is their stadium too)
landsdowne RFC got a new clubhouse in LR after completion, temporary club house in the RDS and guaranteed match tickets.
wanderers got sweet fa other than a pavillion in merrion rd rugby ground, which they claim they never agreed to take.
they are right to be ****ed off and the IRFU should have more cop then proceeding before all the owners of the site were on side.

[livehead1]

it'll be sound i think most plannin permissions have little hold ups and this will be nothing more than that, a lot of smoke may be created but it will be a very small fire

[klein4]

Priceless tickets focus minds as shekels get sling shot response

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A MEETING has been called for tomorrow night of the Leinster Branch management committee, and there is one item on the agenda: the stand-off between Wanderers and the IRFU over the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road. The impasse has implications for the clubs' allocation of international match tickets. Nothing focuses the minds of club treasurers quite like international match tickets. And Wanderers are messing with their heads.

Last Thursday morning, IRFU chief executive Philip Browne broadcast to the nation about the stadium development. The planning application had been made to Dublin City Council last month, and then last week Wanderers made what's called 'an observation' on the issue. In effect, they were putting it on the record that they had problems with the proposal. They were taking their place in the queue of objectors. This was the last thing Browne needed.

On Wednesday, Wanderers had issued a statement saying that they had a pain in their face trying to reach agreement with the union over the proposed demolition of the club's pavilion, which is located in the south west corner of the ground. Wanderers have had a presence on the site since 1880. They have formed an emotional attachment to this little building.

"It's our spiritual home," says Ian Burns, who chairs the club's stadium committee. "It's the most famous building in Lansdowne Road - one of the most famous in the world. And we're getting booted out of what is a prime position in an international rugby stadium and we're not being offered what we believe is fair and reasonable compensation for that."

Burns uses David and Goliath to analogise the relationship between his club and the IRFU. It's an unusual choice, not least because on his five man committee is one zillionaire, Denis O'Brien, but let's run with this for a moment. The leader of the Philistines is offering David a brand new house, just a stone's throw from where he lives now. Well, to be honest, he doesn't actually live there, he just uses it when there's a war on. In fact he has another place nearby, but as it happens Goliath is also prepared to wedge him to do that one up.

Better still, he's also giving the little fella a plush tree house from which he can see every battle, for as long as there is action on this site. And just in case there is any inconvenience about any of this - remember, this leaves Dave with three properties - the bully is throwing in a sack of shekels for good measure. And what does David do? He loads up his sling shot and gives Goliath one in the head. In front of everyone.

Ok, enough. For a supposed little guy, Wanderers are taking a unique route to generating public support. When Burns warms to the topic of his club's place at the heart of Irish rugby's headquarters, he says: "We want a presence, badged as Wanderers Football Club. No advertisements. No nothing. Just Wanderers Football Club, in some form, whether it's a box or whatever it is, looking out on the pitch for our exclusive use, as we have today. Simple."

Indeed. And how modest. Bear in mind that what they have today is a bar with an upstairs view of the pitch. And the only ones who enjoy that beautiful vista on match day are the stewards who use the area for their soup and sambos. Prawn sandwiches they may be, but this is not the golden hub of corporate hospitality, and what Wanderers are being offered far exceeds the value of what they have.

All of this would be hard enough to take without the introduction of tickets. Ian Burns didn't want to talk about that. It is understood that currently they enjoy an allocation of 465 international tickets. And that they opened their negotiations with the IRFU by looking for 1,000 - to whatever event was on in the stadium, sporting or otherwise.

So when Philip Browne went on national radio last Thursday he made it clear that any increase in Wanderers' allocation would be at the expense of other clubs. As it is, Leinster have been told by the IRFU that their allocation of 10,000 will be reduced when the new stadium comes on stream. And Wanderers want more?

It is utterly disingenuous to draw comparisons with the deal done between the IRFU and Lansdowne, the other tenants on the site. Lansdowne's clubhouse is their home; Wanderers' pavilion is a pad they use on match days. They already have ample facilities around the corner on Merrion Road. That's their home. Unlike Lansdowne, they won't need access to any other site when Lansdowne closes for redevelopment, because they already have what they need.

It is important to put into context the nature of tomorrow night's branch meeting. It is at the behest of the IRFU, who will instruct the other provinces, through the branch representatives on the union, to do the same. The union's modus operandi here is the standard one with the clubs: divide and conquer. It will be interesting to hear how little David justifies his claim.

Brendan Fanning
@Sunday Independent

[jbyrne]

to be fair, the irish times listed what the 2 clubs who play in landsdowne got for their troubles (bear in mind it is their stadium too)
landsdowne RFC got a new clubhouse in LR after completion, temporary club house in the RDS and guaranteed match tickets.
wanderers got sweet fa other than a pavillion in merrion rd rugby ground, which they claim they never agreed to take.
they are right to be ****ed off and the IRFU should have more cop then proceeding before all the owners of the site were on side.

your post is inaccurate...
wanderers have also been offered another new clubhouse within lansdowne (paid for by IRFU) for use on match days to entertain corporate heads and charge huge amounts for tickets that truly belong to fans and not executives willing to spend €500 for a match ticket and bit of lunch, arrive 15mins into the game and leave 15 mins before its over. this is on top of the offer of a non refundable grant to upgrade their facility on merrion road. the whole deal is reported to be a "significant 7 figure sum". all this in return for a clapped out cottage in the corner of lansdowne road! lansdowne have only been promised tickets in line with IRFU guidelines which wanderers are also automatically entitled to anyway. the whole ticket grabbing exercise by wanderers is an attempt to further expand the gross use of match tickets by Irish rugby clubs when they are sold for much more than face value under the guise of a lunch that comes with a ticket!!
it is an affront to the genuine paid up members of these clubs who are truly entitled to them

[Roverstillidie]

hold on, then the Irsh Times were inaccurate:
Johnny Watterson, respected rugby guy, wrote this on Friday:

IRFU offers
What Landsedowne get
-New clubhouse on same location (permanent)
-Use of RDS for matches (interim)
-Fully fitted clubhouse within RDS complex (interim)
-Ring-fenced international ticket allocation (permanent)

What Wanderers get
-New pavillion on different (unwanted) location (permanent)
-Merrion Road clubhouse refurbished (permanent)
-No deal on tickets (permanent)
-Corporate box usage for 12 people on match day (permanent)


its not as simple as you make out jbyrne, a lot more to this than tickets. it may be a clapped out cottage, but its theirs and not being replaced or bought.

[jbyrne]

hold on, then the Irsh Times were inaccurate:
Johnny Watterson, respected rugby guy, wrote this on Friday:

IRFU offers
What Landsedowne get
-New clubhouse on same location (permanent)
-Use of RDS for matches (interim)
-Fully fitted clubhouse within RDS complex (interim)
-Ring-fenced international ticket allocation (permanent)

What Wanderers get
-New pavillion on different (unwanted) location (permanent)
-Merrion Road clubhouse refurbished (permanent)
-No deal on tickets (permanent)
-Corporate box usage for 12 people on match day (permanent)


its not as simple as you make out jbyrne, a lot more to this than tickets. it may be a clapped out cottage, but its theirs and not being replaced or bought.

read the article posted above. wanderers rarely, if ever, actually play in lansdowne. lansdowne rugby club actually play there and are losing a pitch to the redevelopment. they are therefore losing a playing facility rather than a boozing facility that wanderers are losing. wanderers have made an unreasonable request to have their new clubhouse located actually within the new stadium and this has been ruled out by the designers as being not possible if the 50,000 capacity is still to be met. both clubs are entitled to their usual tickets in line with what all other Irish rugby clubs are entitled to. tickets are not a commodity! as i said in previous post the wanderers deal is worth a significant 7 figure sum... not bad for an amatuer club losing a cottage

[Roverstillidie]

as may be, but the IRFU should have sorted this long before proceeding as far as they have. they might only own a cottage, but they own part of the ground and that entitles them to be compensated

[HarpoJoyce]

Stadiums with little houses in the corner .com
http://fulham.rivals.net/default.asp?sId=906&StId=7956595&p=2
http://fulham.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=906&p=2&stid=8352713

Development articles:
http://www.fulhamfc.com/Football_Craven_Cottage_124790_17.html

Older article before new stands re-developed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/2656581.stm