Sport Ireland to spend €20m on consultants for development of campus

Sports body seeking five lots of consultancy services to support development of its campus in Blanchardstown in West Dublin

According to the tender documents, the construction costs for the future development of the campus is expected to cost between €100m and €150m. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Sport Ireland is to spend up to €20m on consultancy services for the development of its campus in West Dublin over the next four years.

According to tender documents, Sport Ireland is seeking to develop a “multi-party framework agreement” to support the future development of its sporting campus in Blanchardstown.

The organisation, which is tasked with developing sport across Ireland, announced its future development masterplan last November, with it set to run over the next 15 to 20 years.

The body announced it was seeking to build a new national velodrome and badminton centre. Planning permission for the new centre was granted by Fingal County Council in January.

The masterplan also seeks to deliver accommodation for athletes, a new athlete hub, conferencing and meeting facilities, a refurbished courtyard and public plaza as well as a museum of Irish sport.

According to the tender documents, the construction costs for the future development of the campus is expected to cost between €100m and €150m.

In total, Sport Ireland is seeking five separate lots of consultancy services, including architectural consultancy, civil and structural engineering consultancy and project management consultancy.

As part of the tender agreement, Sport Ireland will be permitted to appoint up to seven consultants for each individual lot.

“For each of the specified lots, Sport Ireland require full professional services for the design, tender, construction, and handover stages of capital works projects,” the tender specifies.

The decision to award the tender is expected to be made in the last three months of the year.

Currently, Sport Ireland is set to deliver the masterplan in stages based on the needs of athletes and the growth of specific sports.

Concerns have been raised in recent months on the overall role of Sport Ireland, with calls from TDs to have the body's remit expanded to allow for greater regulation and oversight of sport in Ireland.

Labour TD Alan Kelly told the Public Accounts Committee in June that there was “huge confusion” over the role of Sport Ireland, questioning if it now needed to operate as a funder and regulator.

In response, chairman John Foley said while the body was instructed to oversee compliance, it was not tasked with regulation. When asked if he believed that role needed to change, Mr Foley said both the board and executive would need to examine it.

“Even though we are the development agency, we do have a lot of power in the sense that we are the funding agency, insuring that proper compliance is at play and that is something that we can achieve,” Mr Foley said.