Niamh Reid Burke to Carry Olympic Flame For Dublin 15

Congratulations to local girl Niamh Reid-Burke who will carry the Olympic Torch tomorrow. Niamh, from Clonsilla, Dublin 15, is a second year student on the Sports Management & Coaching course at Blanchardstown Institute of Technology. She was nominated by the Sports Department in Fingal County Council and following a vetting process and an interview, Niamh was selected to carry the torch by the Olympic Council.

From the age of 12 she has been a member of the National Aquatic Centre’s Spring and Platform Diving Team and represented Ireland at international events on four occasions. Niamh also plays soccer and received her first cap for Ireland when she was 14. She has 36 under age caps and has been on the FAI Ladies Senior International panel for the last two years.

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Council golf courses deep in the red.

Fingal County Council’s two municipal golf courses have lost almost €610,000 over the last three years. Responding to a question from Cllr. Kieran Dennison (FG) the Manager revealed that in 2007, before the economic crash, they recorded a loss of €54,000. A year later the two courses were €328,278 in the red and managed to lose another €227,216 last year.

The Elmgreen Golf Centre at Castleknock has an18 hole golf course, 18 hole pitch and putt course and 24 bay driving range. It costs an average of €1.3m to run but recorded losses over the three years totaling €389,755.

The Corballis public links golf course at Donabate costs €1/2m to run. In 2007 it managed a profit of €26,887 before running up losses over the three years of €220,112.

Golf courses all over the country are finding the going tough but it is surprising that even at the height of the boom in 2007 the council’s courses were losing money. Action should have been taken in 2008 to stop the rot. Instead they increased expenditure rather than reduce it and again last year, they spent more than they took in the previous year. 

The Council now seems to have finally thrown in the towel when it comes to managing their courses and have sought tenders for management services for 2010 but it is likely to be the second half of the year before this is in operation.

The real question here is whether the council should be running golf courses at all. Even during the boom there was no shortage of courses around Dublin and for those willing to travel prices were reasonable. If it means subsidizing them to the tune of €300,000 per year then the answer is no. 

The Council also operates a 9 hole, par 3 golf course and pitch and putt course at Malahide Demesne. No details were given for this.

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Tyrrelstown To Lose Youth Officer.

Tyrrelstown will lose its popular youth officer Julie Gosselin at the end of the month because of government cutbacks. Julie has been a fantastic asset to Tyrrelstown over the last two years and everyone is very disappointed to see her go. It is not simply the work she has done with the youth and clubs in the area but the very valuable network that she has built up in a new community of over 4000 people. Minister Lennihan promised before each of the last two elections to provide permanent schools and a community centre for Tyrrelstown. The Department of Education is still dragging its heels on the acquisition of the site, so the least the government could do is to continue funding the youth project.


Julie began working with Foroige in October 2007 to provide youth services to young people between the ages of ten and eighteen in the Tyrrelstown area with a particular emphasis being placed on the importance of integration and intercultural exchange in an area widely diverse in terms of ethnic groups. County Dublin VEC funded the project but warned in March that due to government cut backs they would not be able to continue for much longer.

It is disappointing that the VEC could have allowed something like this to happen. If this project is not continued, the cost down the road will likely be much higher. The youth in the area need the leadership and continuity provided by someone like Julie and any talk of replacing her with a temporary part time worker is simply not acceptable.

Julie will now work on another project for Foroige in Tallaght but she is not looking forward to breaking the news to young people in Tyrrelstown. She had set up were a girls group for 12 to 16 year olds revolving around girl’s health and physical activity and a Friday youth club to cater for 10 to 13 year olds. The popular TYT Youth Café provided a safe environment for older children where they are encouraged to develop themselves and where they take part in activities that constitute a form of informal education.

“Self-development of the young people and their community, actively and consciously is one of the key elements in Foróige’s projects,” according to Julie.

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National Sports Campus - Phase I

Today the planning application for phase one of the National Sports Campus at Abbotstown was published.

This planning application, if approved – will provide for;

A National Indoor Athletics Training Centre;
A multi-sport national Indoor Training Centre;
A National Gymnastics Training Centre;
Sports Science and Medical facilities;
Accommodation for sportsmen and women;
An all-weather synthetic pitch for local access; and
A National Field Sports Training Centre


Provided that individual members of the local community as well as local sporting groups will have affordable access to these facilities, I believe that this will represent an important boon for the people of Dublin 15. The chance to use top of the range facilities will surely give local kids the chance to achieve their sporting best.

Furthermore, once the facility is developed there will be a regular flow of our leading sports men and women through the campus. This presents an ideal opportunity for local schools and sports clubs to bring our national sport stars to meet the young people of Dublin 15, and to present positive role models.

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