Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will certainly endeavour to mention every sports club in Dublin Central and the incredible work they do. As we talk about the sports capital grant, we should begin by acknowledging that the Minister of State is a very accessible one in terms of making himself available to local sports teams, so I thank him for that.

In respect of facilities, a lot of our grassroots clubs, and in particular football clubs, a sport close to my own heart, play on pitches in public parks, as they have done for decades. Many of these parks lack the basic infrastructure needed for these clubs to become effective and, more important, inclusive organisations. Many have no changing facilities, no parking facilities, limited access points to the park and no disability infrastructure. All of that combined with almost unplayable surfaces for best part of the year makes it hard for clubs to survive.

Three clubs in my constituency - here we go, a Chathaoirligh Gníomhach - namely, Belvedere FC, Sheriff YC and East Wall Bessborough FC, play their home games both in Fairview Park and in the Alfie Byrne Road public park facilities. The latter, in particular, has been the home of East Wall Bessborough FC but that comes with massive struggles for the club, a matter I have raised a number of times, although there has been some progress. It has very limited entry points and a dearth of disability access points, which are hazardous and potentially harmful to those who try to access the facilities. The club's elderly members, parents and members of the community find it difficult just to get in to watch a game on occasion. There are no dressing rooms, the changing areas in both pitches and the walkways are by the sea, and it has always been a hotspot for antisocial behaviour. All of that, grouped with an almost unplayable surface, has forced the club to stop certain age groups playing in the park, leading to the exclusion of various age groups at least biweekly. Since the turn of 2023, there have been three separate occasions when the pitches in Fairview Park have been destroyed by scrambler motorbikes or stolen cars, an issue I know the Cathaoirleach Gníomhachhas been raising since we were both members of Dublin City Council.

We cannot talk about sporting facilities without talking about the safety of them and the link-up we need between local authorities and the Garda Síochána. Sheriff YC and Belvedere FC have had to call off games such was the extent of damage to the pitches. Most weekends, the coaches and the parents must sweep the pitches for broken glass bottles and syringes before any training or matches can commence. It has become more of an issue and is getting to the point where the pitches have become completely unplayable. Most recently, on the weekend of 12 and 13 August, all the games had to be called off because of damage to the pitches that stemmed from stolen vehicles. In one of the darkest days for grassroots football in the inner city of Dublin, East Wall Bessborough FC had to call off an under-nines game ten minutes before kick-off because a club member with physical disabilities who is a wheelchair user could not access the pitches. Other clubs in the vicinity, such as Marino AFC, which has 400 members and does incredible work in Dublin 3, have had to deal with many of the same issues, such as a lack of facilities, young people having to get changed on the corner of pitches and antisocial behaviour surrounding them.

Belvedere FC, one of the most historic clubs in Dublin, with close to 500 members, most of whom are from the north inner city or at least the north side of Dublin, was founded in 1971 and was initially formed to provide football for children who were not involved in Belvedere Youth Club, the longest running youth club in the country, founded soon after independence to give young people who had previously been newsboys an outlet. The founding fathers of Belvedere FC, Vincent Butler and the late Fergus McCabe, have changed the trajectory of so many people from Dublin's lives. The club has produced 239 international players, 16 of whom became full international players, with numerous league and cup triumphs, but the members will agree Belvedere FC's greatest success has been in providing a structure for young people to express themselves in a safe, supportive and positive environment. It does incredible work but, in the absence of a facility, its future is genuinely at risk.

A couple of previous speakers talked about clubs working together. Belvedere FC, East Wall Bessborough FC and, I believe, Sheriff YC are coming together to outline an especially ambitious plan for the Alfie Byrne Road site and they are getting a lot of support from public representatives. I have raised this previously with the Minister of State and there has been some progress in that regard. That is important and is another example of football clubs working together.

Separately, although it is an aligned issue, a local community safety partnership a couple of weeks ago highlighted how we could develop safety in the north inner city of Dublin. It claimed to have engaged with all the community stakeholders in a 52-page multifaceted document, but that document and endeavour did not in any way engage with the local sporting infrastructure, such as the local boxing clubs in the inner city, of which there are several, as well as the football clubs I mentioned and, indeed, the Gaelic clubs such as Scoil Uí Chonaill CLG, which are doing great work in providing outlets for hard-to-reach young people, not least young teenage boys who are at risk of getting involved in all sorts of antisocial behaviour. They are the first bulwark against that and, as we look to enhance community facilities and give young people an outlet that provides discipline, structure and routine, sporting clubs have to be seen as essential. The document was lacking that. As I mentioned earlier, the Minister of State is an incredibly accessible one and is always open to ideas, so linking that community safety infrastructure with the sporting ambition is going to be important. I hope we can do that.

Another issue relates to the cost of pitches, especially pitches that are being funded by public money. One game on the Clontarf Dublin City Council pitch costs €140. At the new Technological University, TU, Dublin in Grangegorman, the cost is up to €190. If we think of a kid from the north inner city of Dublin or from any part of Dublin whose family might be experiencing any sort of hardship, that is going to require about €200 or €250 in registration fees alone for the year, which makes football pretty inaccessible. Anybody who is receiving publicly funded capital grants really needs to look at themselves if they are charging that kind of money. It is an issue that will have a lasting impression.

I thank the Minister of State and the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach. I hope I named every football team in Dublin Central.

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