Today Donegal County Council allocated €500’000 matching the FAI and Harps own funding in relation to completion of Donegal Community Stadium at Stranorlar, County Donegal following engagement with Finn Harps FC, Football Association of Ireland and Dept Sport etc.
The report recommends that Donegal Co. Council make a conditional offer to Finn Harps FC to provide € 500,000.00 towards the completion of the Donegal Community Stadium subject to a number of conditions as set out in the report. Members are asked to consider the report and the recommendation and to approve the recommendation as set out.
The Elected Members of the Council are well aware of the proposed development of the Donegal Community Stadium at Stranorlar, which is primarily being advanced by Finn Harps FC to facilitate their participation in the FAI Senior League and FAI Senior Cup competitions. This matter has come before Council on a number of occasions through motions submitted by a number of Members, with Members requesting the Executive in the Council to work with and support Finn Harps FC in their aim to complete the Stadium, which would allow them to play their home games at the venue at the earliest possible date.
Background: Donegal Co. Council has over the past number of years provided its' support to Finn Harps FC as they seek to progress the development and completion of the Donegal Community Stadium in Stranorlar. It is noted and very much welcomed that financial funding in the sum of € 3.991 M has been provisionally allocated by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) to this end. The application to LSSIF was submitted by the FAI as the National Governing Body for Soccer in Ireland in conjunction with Finn Harps FC, with Donegal Co. Council providing a 'Letter of Support' to the application. The 'Letter of Support' from the Council outlined the following; It is noted that the Donegal County Development Plan 2018 - 2024 identifies Ballybofey & Stranorlar as a 'Strategic Town' with the objective of developing a 'Centre of Excellence for Sport & Recreation' in the Twin Towns. Donegal Co. Council engaged in a public consultation process to develop a Masterplan for a Centre of Excellence for Sport at Stranorlar and that the Donegal Community Stadium was selected as a central element of same. In addition, this objective was restated and again emphasised in the Local Area Plan for Ballybofey & Stranorlar (2018 – 2024) formally adopted by Donegal Co. Council in July 2018. It is the Council’s view that the development of the Donegal Community Stadium is a centre piece in achieving the overall aims and objectives of the Local Area Plan in this location.
Furthermore and in the context of the support provided by the Council, it is noted that the site upon which the Stadium is being built is owned by Donegal County Council, and the Council has granted a lease in favour of Finn Harps for a 30 year term. It is important to also note that the Council has invested local funding directly into the project to date. The land purchase costs for the Sports Master Plan area were € 1,081,482, which includes the lands leased to Finn Harps FC to accommodate the Donegal Community Stadium. The development of road access infrastructure, boundary treatment and other ancillary development works to facilitate the development of the facilities at this location are of the order of €250,000. This brings the total local investment to date to € 1,331,482.
{piece on local sporting area of excellence edited}..while the new stadium will give a significant boost to the public in the North West on match nights, the Council is also very aware of the work that Finn Harps are carrying out in the community, collaborating with clubs, schools and other organisations in the County, in order to increase participation in sport, and promote social inclusion. Significant progress has been made in this regard particularly via their Schools Programme and Academy in recent years. The completion of the Stadium and the broader Masterplan is key to putting modern facilities in place that will enable all these programmes to be developed further.
Current Position: Members are very much aware of the current state of development in relation to the Stadium. Work has been stalled for a considerable period of time with the overall site falling into a state of disrepair. There is a strong desire in the local community, and throughout the county that the project is brought to conclusion. Senior Management within Council, as directed and requested by Elected Members, have engaged with Finn Harps FC, the FAI and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media (DTCAGSM) to ascertain what options exist to provide for the completion of the stadium. A number of meetings have been held and it is very apparent that all parties wish to see the project delivered. That said, the major issue to be resolved is the funding gap between what has been committed by DTCAGCSM (€ 3.991 M) and the sum required to deliver the completed stadium to allow Finn Harps FC to play their home games at the venue. Finn Harps FC has carried out a major review of the proposed stadium and has also concluded a ‘value engineering’ exercise to exclude and reduce elements of the overall project, which are not absolutely necessary at this time, so as to refine the overall project costs to the greatest degree possible.
The Development Committee in Finn Harps FC has also reviewed the construction format to be used, and following significant investigation has now opted for a modular stadium build and has recently gone to the marketplace on this basis. This construction method is one that is used widely in the UK, and site visits were carried out to examine same. Planning Permission for the development has been extended under Plan Ref: 22/50661 to October 2024. As a consequence of this approach, revised financial projections for the completion of the stadium have been provided, based on current tender prices, as follows;
Financial Projections: Complete stadium steel structure (including covered stands and seats) € 2,872,000.00 Finish Stadium Foundations € 568,000.00 Floodlights € 190,000.00 Laying Pitch € 230,000.00 Facilities main stand (Dressing rooms etc.) € 1,700,000.00 TOTAL € 5,560,000.00 As a consequence of the provisional allocation by DTCAGCSM of € 4 M approx., the funding gap to be met is of the order of € 1.5 M approx. From the various meetings that have taken place with all the relevant parties, the proposals emerging to meet this funding deficit are as follows; Football Association of Ireland (FAI) € 500,000.00 Finn Harps Football Club € 500,000.00 Donegal County Council € 500,000.00 TOTAL € 1,500,000.00
To date, Finn Harps FC has received a conditional Letter of Offer from the FAI (June 2022) to commit the sum of € 500,000.00 to the project, subject to a number of conditions being met. The Finn Harps Committee has indicated to the Council at a recent meeting that the conditions are not overly onerous and that they will have no issues complying with same. For their part, Finn Harps FC has confirmed that they have commenced a major fundraising initiative to raise their share of the funding required and have expressed their confidence that they will be in a position to meet their obligations in this regard.
Recommendation to Council:
In light of the above, it is recommended that Donegal Co. Council make a conditional offer to Finn Harps FC to provide € 500,000.00 towards the completion of the Donegal Community Stadium on the following basis;
1. The funding support is to be capped at € 500,000.00 and is specifically related to the completion of the Donegal Community Stadium and to enable the drawdown of the € 3,991,000.00 from DTCAGCSM and not to be used for any other purpose
2. The funding will be paid over a three year period as follows; 2022 € 250,000.00 2023 € 150,000.00 2024 € 100,000.00
3. The funding will be subject to a Heads of Agreement document between the parties, with the financial contribution payable in any year subject to the delivery of agreed milestones.
4. Finn Harps FC to retain responsibility for all aspects of the delivery of the project, including the planning, design and construction phases and will be responsible for engaging the required professional services in this regard. Finn Harps FC also to retain responsibility for the maintenance and operation of the new Stadium when complete.
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