There has been a mixed reaction to the news that permission has been granted for the development of 161 housing units on GAA club grounds in Dolphin’s Barn, Dublin.

While Templeogue Synge Street GAA club has welcomed An Bord Pleanála’s decision to overturn a Dublin City Council decision to refuse permission to build 153 apartments, seven townhouses and one house on its grounds, Kevins Hurling and Camogie Club - which shares the grounds - said the club will be losing out and might have to train further away from where their players live.

About 15% of the pitch at Dolphin Park in Crumlin will be used to build the houses. The sale of the land will fund a €3m development, including floodlights, a new training all-weather pitch, a new gym and dressing rooms to allow an extra 400 hours of training a year for Templeogue Synge Street's 46 teams.

Club chairman Alan O'Brien said in a statement: “We are delighted to have finally received approval from An Bord Pleanála for this ambitious redevelopment of our club. We are going to create a modern GAA facility that will service the needs of the GAA community in this part of Dublin for generations to come.

"The growth in our playing numbers is down to the dedication and passion of our volunteers and the pride we have instilled in this club. However, we need to take our club to the next level in order to achieve our real potential and that means having modern facilities.

“We plan to enhance the pitches we do have and have juvenile pitches running cross-field. We will be investing in new floodlights and an all-weather training pitch, which will significantly increase the training time available for all the teams that currently use the facility. Importantly we will be retaining two full sized adult pitches as part of this redevelopment, so it will greatly enhance the playing time available for all pitch users,”

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