Stadium pantomime to have a happy ending for Rovers
SHAMROCK ROVERS will get the best possible Christmas present today when South Dublin County Council announce that they are prepared to finish the club's Tallaght stadium themselves.
Having been staring into a dark abyss just a week ago, Rovers are now looking at a happy ending which is most apt given the pantomime that has been performed over the past seven years.
The council will announce later today that they are taking back the two leases given to Mulden International and Sloanepark to assist the building of the stadium.
The directors of Shamrock Rovers acquired a majority shareholding in Sloanepark some time ago and will have no problem handing back that lease after the council informed them earlier this week that they are committed to bringing the club to Tallaght.
However, it remains to be seen if Mulden International will decide to resist the council's attempt to take back their lease. If they don't object then work could resume on the half-finished stadium sometime next year.
Having watched from the sidelines over the past seven years, South Dublin County Council are now determined to finally bring to an end the Tallaght Stadium saga.
Shamrock Rovers were awarded planning permission for the 13 acre site opposite The Square Shopping Centre on January 14, 1998 and Mulden International, who had been in the background, entered the picture on March 24 2000 when, at the request of Rovers, they were granted a 250-year lease by South Dublin County Council.
The lease required Mulden to commence work within six months in accordance with the planning permission already granted but they transfered the obligation to build the stadium to Sloanepark on October 20, 2000 when they leased eight acres of the land for the provision of community, recreational, leisure, social and sporting facilities and associated retail activities.
Mulden also retained a lease on a second site which was where the stadium's car park was planned. Sloanepark were required to commence work within six months and actually started within weeks. Within 12 months the pitch was in place and the main stand was half-built. To date, E4.2million has been spent on the stadium.
However, no work has taken place on the site in three years despite the club receiving a one-year extension to their planning permission to allow them to finish the stadium by October 31, 2004.
Earlier this month the club's application for a further 18-month extension to complete the stadium was rejected by South Dublin County Council.
At that stage, Rovers future looked as bleak as it did the day they left Miltown in 1987 but the council are about to show that they have no intention of abandoning a club that has integrated itself into the community in Tallaght since it made the decision to relocate there.
Exasperated by the failure of Mulden and Sloanepark to fulfill the terms of their respective leases, the council now believe they are legally entitled to withdraw them.
When they agreed to the leases the council were told that by involving the two private companies it would be the quickest way to ensure that the stadium was built.
It also believed that the council were unhappy at the prospect of Mulden International's 250-year lease being purchased by Rovers new investor, property developer Conor Clarkson.
It is understood that the council are prepared to finish off the stadium themselves and lease back a four-acre site to Shamrock Rovers that will encompass the stadium and training pitch.
The club, who in recent months have started to receive substantial financial backing from Clarkson, are believed to be keen to enter into a public-private partnership with the council.
Talks on this are likely to commence once South Dublin County Council has successfully completed the forfeiture of Mulden International's lease.
Rovers chairman Tony Maguire declined last night to comment on the impending announcement by South Dublin County Council but he did confirm that the council are committed to bringing the club to Tallaght.
"The council has confirmed to us that Shamrock Rovers will playing football in Tallaght as soon as the current situation can be resolved," said Maguire last night.
Rovers are hoping that once the stadium situation is resolved they can concentrate on the football side properly and are currently working on attracting a major investor into the club.
But it's the news that South Dublin County Council have finally run out of patience and decided to drive the project forward themselves which will ensure Shamrock Rovers and their fans will have a Happy Christmas this year.
Irish Independent - 24.12.04
Gerry McDermott
