Cork Con rugby club seeks permission in relocation deal

WILL Irish rugby hopes for the 2011 World Cup hinge on new training facilities like this one, ear-marked for Cork Constitution?

As the 2007 World Cup continues in France without Ireland, it is back to the drawing board for the game at home.

To help make the jump up to the next level, the venerable Cork Constitution FC rugby club this week sought planning permission for a raft of new pitches and facilities and to relocate to 28 acres in a rural setting from its suburban grounds.

It is selling its Ballintemple pitch on eight acres in a development deal worth over €20 million, which will also see the company develop new facilities.

The rugby club plans five pitches, an all-weather pitch, and a 26,000 sq ft clubhouse at Ballyorban, near Monkstown, along with match-day levels of car parking. The club, founded in 1892, has been at Temple Hill since 1953 and has 500 playing members, plus 800 juveniles.

Although Cork City Council and city manager Joe Gavin have said they will reject approaches for rezoning of existing sports facilities, developers O’Callaghan Properties are expected to submit “innovative plans to Cork City Council in due course to develop a village-type focus for Temple Hill, and to create significant new public recreational space in the area replacing the current private sports facility,” said a company spokesperson.

While no other adjoining land purchases are understood to have happened, it is probable that an even-larger development site assembly could be on the cards at Ballintemple.

Cork Con president Jack O’Sullivan said that while there would be sadness among the club membership at leaving Temple Hill, better club facilities were an imperative.