Áras Naomh Eoin – Our Home by the Park By Michael Hand
Introduction The old Irish proverb runs ‘Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin’. That is how it was for the early BSJ faithful who dreamed of their very own social venue, full of warmth, friendship, banter and conviviality; a refuge when the games are over, or the day’s work is done. Or indeed a place to celebrate when we bring home that elusive trophy. Every weekend, as we took teams around the County, we admired with envy the facilities available to the competition. It comes as no great surprise therefore, that the acquisition of a site and construction of a Clubhouse was the top agenda item for every new Chairman and Executive.
Site Search
My own involvement commenced in the early 1990’s when Brian Goggins asked me to have a look around for a possible Clubhouse site. Over several months I sought out and spoke with various landowners in the area, all wily developers waiting for the right conditions to get their land rezoned for residential development and make their fortunes. A few of us spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon touring Ticknock for possible sites. Everywhere we looked seemed hopelessly beyond our reach. The first sliver of light came when, the old Dublin County Council published advance plans for what is now the M50 motorway and its feeder routes.
We picked out a few land ‘cut offs’ which might accommodate a Clubhouse. I presented these to a recently formed Development Committee, chaired by JJ Duffy. To say that members were underwhelmed by the size of these leftovers is no exaggeration as many of them, with roots in the country, had seen their childhood clubs develop big sports centres without concern for land constraints. In any event, it slowly dawned on everybody that this was the only game in town, and we began to examine the possibilities for each site. We settled on a potential 0.6 Ha site beside the side gate of Marlay Park. This site would be created by annexing part of the old Grange Road with the construction of the new Green Route.
The Committee completed a feasibility study on the site and decided that it could accommodate a small bungalow type building incorporating 4 dressing rooms and a meeting room. And so, in late 1994, we started detailed engagement with the recently formed Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Project Development It was ultimately to take more than a decade of endeavour to deliver the Clubhouse and there were many highs and lows over the period.
Some key project milestones were as follows:
• April ’95 – Formal application to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for Clubhouse site.
• September ’95 – Feasibility Study entitled ‘Ballinteer St Johns – A Suitable Case for Development’ submitted to the Council in support of the Grange Road site.
• April ’96 – Agreement in principle to our proposal from the Council. 2 • February ’97 – Brian Mullins and Associates appointed as Architects following a selection process based on a developed brief agreed with the Council’s Planning and Parks Departments.
• January ’99 – Green Route construction commenced leading to the freeing up of the site.
• July ’99 – Planning Application lodged following receipt of a ‘letter of interest’ in the site by the Council.
• June ’00 – Full Planning Permission granted. There were no third-party appeals.
• January ’01 – Design Team appointed for detailed design and tender stage.
• June ’01 – Signboard erected on the site. Fire Certificate application lodged.
• September ’01 – Fire Certificate granted.
• March ’02 – Gas main diversion completed. • August ’02 – Eircom cable diversion works completed. Site cleared.
• September ’02 – Hegarty Demolition appointed as Basement and Groundworks contractor.
• October ’02 – Sod turning ceremony performed by Ministers Seamus Brennan and Tom Kitt.
• January ’03 – McCabe Construction appointed as Main Contractor.
• May ‘03 – Site Sporting Lease formally signed by the Council and the Club.
• December ’03 – Completion of Clubhouse and opening for business.
• May ’05 – Official Opening by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD.
All through this period the design was developed and flexed to what it is today. This was achieved through ongoing rounds of meetings and consultations with the Council, particularly the Planning and Parks Departments. The bungalow of the original feasibility study morphed into a dormer bungalow, and then into a two-storey building. Then it was widened and lengthened as the full extent of the available site emerged. Finally, a basement was added. The planners insisted on quality building finishes, reflecting the prominence of the site, overlooking a Regional Park, and we obliged. In return we enlarged the footprint to eventually achieve over 900 square metres of floor space. We also negotiated a priceless pedestrian wicket gate access from the site into Marlay Park. All the while there were differences of opinion about site access and the volume of car parking to be provided.
The Council initially sought 200 spaces, which would have rendered the site unviable, but they eventually agreed to the 65 available spaces on the basis that most Club members are local and would typically walk or cycle to the Clubhouse. But perhaps the greatest coup of all was the agreement on site access. Countless designs were developed in order to achieve an entrance off Grange Road, from the south or Pine Valley end of the site.
However, each one in turn was rejected by the Roads Engineers on traffic safety grounds due to the risk arising from too many turning movements at that location. In the event, the solution came from the opposite end of the site when the Council offered to move back a 50m section of the Park wall in order to remove a pinch point and this allowed us create our very own access roadway and traffic light controlled entrance opposite Stonemasons Way. The partnership model developed between the Council and the Club was a key ingredient of successful project delivery and the Club owes a great debt of gratitude to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and particularly its officers who helped us along the way. The Funding Challenge If the physical delivery of the Clubhouse was a triumph, then the financing of the development was a minor miracle.
The Club had a Development Fund account for years and any slim surpluses were 3 squirreled away for the Clubhouse. However, the need to build Áras na nÓg meant that virtually all the saved funds had been expended by the time that the Clubhouse project started to come together in earnest in 1997. Around this time, Mattie Murphy was asked to chair a Clubhouse Fundraising Committee with a view to raising the then estimated €1.9m (IR£1.5m) required to deliver the Clubhouse project.
The scale of the challenge was enormous, and the sum involved was several orders of magnitude greater than anything the Club had ever faced before. Following visits to several other clubs who had completed similar developments, a detailed funding plan was conceived. This was shared with the membership and well attended meetings were held in the amharclann in Scoil Naithí at which the overall plans and funding strategy were outlined and debated late into the night. A memory of these events is the excitement generated, but always tinged by incredulity, that we could dare to believe that it was possible to fund or even fit a clubhouse building on an imaginary sliver of land where the traffic still flowed.
The four pillars of the funding strategy were finally agreed as General Fundraising, Membership Scheme, National Lottery / GAA Grants and Bank Borrowing.
It was envisaged that each pillar would raise similar amounts of around €0.5m but that each one would leverage the next so that the last piece of the jigsaw, being the greatest challenge, would benefit from the momentum of the others. General Fundraising General Fundraising was to consist of maximising the Club Lotto and coming up with all manner and means of fundraising. Around that time golf classics, race nights and quiz nights were all the rage, having replaced flag days, raffles and cake sales as the staple diet of GAA club fundraising. As even the most successful of any of these events could only hope to raise €10k, it was quickly realised that a major fundraiser was required if the targeted amount was to be raised.
Further, it was desirable to conceive an event that had wider appeal so as not to be tapping the same cohort of club support. This called for innovation and Mattie, an expert in all matters agricultural and equestrian was well known to have the odd flutter on the nags. It so happened that Leopardstown Racecourse had just built a new 1,500 capacity pavilion for private functions such as sponsored race day events. Meetings were held with track management, and the sums indicated that the Club could raise up to IR£75k in a single event, if it could fill the venue.
The Christmas festival was well known as one of the major annual national hunt events and soon, Sunday 29th December 1999 was set for our first Raceday. Teams of sellers were handpicked and inculcated with three simple messages of ‘Sell, Sell, Sell’ – this event could not fail. And so, when we departed from Ballinteer on the morning of the event, we headed for Leopardstown with a mixture of excitement and fear of the unknown. It transpired that we had sold 1520 tickets, and the pavilion had never accommodated such numbers. After some initial chaos, the management pulled out all the stops to eventually seat and feed everybody. A great day was had by members and their guests but, most importantly, the financial target was exceeded – we were on our way in earnest.
It was decided to go again for the next year, this time on Sunday 28th December, but with the crowd limited to 1,000. While the event sold out, the racecourse was covered with snow when the day arrived, and the festival had to be cancelled. Frantic meetings were held on that morning between the Club officers and racecourse management to see if the fundraiser could be salvaged. In the end, it was decided to run with it. The food was served up as before and afterwards, the racecourse ran videos of old races on the monitors.
The Club threw in additional prizes while Diarmuid Desmond and Seán Lane acted as bookmakers and 900 patrons enjoyed a unique event in the most surreal of settings. After surviving that, nothing 4 could stop us and subsequent successful annual Racedays followed as the model was finessed to include corporate selling, spot prizes, a €10 raffle and we moved to Pierse Hurdle Day in midJanuary, one of the busiest national hunt days of the year. Accordingly, by the 2005 event, we had well exceeded our target.
Membership Scheme
The Membership Scheme was designed to invite each member to answer the question, ‘how badly do I actually want this Clubhouse?’ A series of presentations to the wider club membership, outlining the scope of the project and the benefits likely to accrue to the members and the wider community, drew a huge response. In order to ease the burden on members, Jim Gillick arranged a special BSJ loan scheme with Dundrum Credit Union. Three different pavilion membership options were offered – Life, 20 and 10 year and more than 300 families, accounting for over 1,000 members, joined the scheme. The €600k raised showed that the membership indeed wanted it and demonstrated that we had the makings of a sound project.
Grant Funding National Lottery grant rules required applicants to have at least 30% of estimated project cost secured before the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation would consider the project for support under their Sports Capital Programs. Other hurdles included proof of site ownership, planning permission, letters of support from the locality and further afield, a feasibility study and full financial projections demonstrating viability. We sought proposals from specialist sports consultants, and they quoted up to €20k to draft the application documentation. Given that we were actively fundraising, this seemed like a huge leakage of hard-earned cash, and we figured that we would be assembling most of the data for the consultant in any event.
So, it was decided to mobilize our own team and for several weeks a dozen members, with the historical knowledge and the necessary skills, met for several hours every Saturday afternoon to pull together the submission. We held a meeting with one of the Department’s senior officials who appraised us of their detailed requirements and the basis of the scoring system used in assessing applications. Armed with this information, we formatted the application so that every angle was covered.
As our first application predated the launch of the Membership Scheme, we got signed pledges from 50 members in order to overcome the 30% secured funds threshold. Key to the success of the application was the financial model developed by Gerry Caulfield, which has been remarkably accurate in practice. The Club was successful with 3 different applications for support under the Sports Capital Programme in 2001 (IR£250k), 2002 (€200k) and 2003 (€100k). We received terrific support from our local elected representatives, particularly the late Seamus Brennan RIP, and Tom Kitt, both of whom held ministerial office during the period. Each application was equally well prepared, and such was the professional manner of our dealings with the Department that an excellent relationship was built up which was to serve us well into the future. The Leinster Council of the GAA gave the Club a grant of €28,500 towards the Clubhouse project and ensured that our grant funding pillar delivered over €645k.
Bank Loan
The last funding pillar was Bank Borrowing which we believed would be a doddle compared to what we had endured to date. Detailed proposal documents, complete with business plans, were prepared and submitted to the two regular Club banks for consideration in mid 2002. Following several reminders, we slowly got the thumbs down from both of them. In a state of disbelief, we approached National Irish Bank who indicated an interest. We made our submission and their 5 corporate lending manager, a former Donegal County player, came out to see what we were about. Tom Hayes and I met him at the site and fortunately, Hegarty Demolition had just started digging out the basement and the air was thick with industry, diesel fumes and expectation. We made our pitch and got good engagement.
However, the deal was clinched when Kieran Brennan ambled into view and they both realized that they had played against each other for their respective counties in the 1970’s. Indeed, they both agreed that one of those encounters, a league match between Laois and Donegal on a wet Sunday in Ballybofey, was the best fight they were ever in. Within weeks of that meeting, we had approval for a €630k mortgage over 15 years with attractive interest rates. Of great assistance to our cause was a property valuation furnished by Vinnie Finnegan of Finnegan Estate Agents in Dundrum. Like many others who assisted us along the way, we are still waiting for his fee invoice.
With the last pillar of the fundraising in place, we had €2.4m secured, safely above the fundraising budget.
Site Preparation
The Council was persuaded to effectively donate the site to the Club and the final legal agreement was for a 35-year Sporting Lease ‘subject to an annual rent of €1’. While the Club greatly appreciated the effective gifting of the site by the Council, it is fair to say that it did not come entirely without its burdens. For a start, the Green Route contractor had used it to dispose of his surplus excavated material which had subsequently to be removed by the Club. The footprint of the building sat on the old Grange Road and all the utility services had to be diverted around the building before construction could commence. The long access road, the relocation of a 50m section of the park wall and the installation of a traffic light-controlled junction added further cost. Finally, the shape of the site, together with its level difference with the new Green Route, meant that we were required to construct over 200 m of retaining wall with a 2m high steel fence in order to secure the site.
On the credit side, we did inherit a perfectly good surface water sewer which we used to drain away rainwater from the roofs and car parks. Then there was a section of the Grange Road itself which was salvaged and is now part of the entrance road and car park. Also, we persuaded the Council to lay a section of the Clubhouse foul sewer connection to Heather estate, underneath the Green Route, concurrent with road construction, even before we had planning permission. Finally, the cost of the traffic lights was largely absorbed by the Council through the good offices of Tom Toomey. As part of a cost and risk management strategy, it was decided to break the construction into packages rather than award one single contract.
This approach also sat well with ongoing fundraising. Individual service diversions were negotiated by JJ Duffy with the utility companies. A 300mm gas main had to be diverted and this was completed fairly painlessly in March 2002 with the assistance of a Club member who was a Bord Gais employee. The Council was prepared to abandon the water main as a new one had been laid in the new road. The only remaining services were Eircom communications cables, and it transpired that seven major coaxial cables serving Sandyford ran in ducts beneath the Clubhouse site. The company had been privatised and was quoting over €100k for doing the diversion with no flexibility on price. Several months of negotiations got the price down to €80k provided the Club did all the excavations.
These were done in March 2002 and, such was the complexity of the operation that it took Eircom five months to lay the new cables and splice them at both ends. 6 Clubhouse Construction The first major package was the Basement and Groundworks contract which was essentially an enabling contract for the Clubhouse proper. It was awarded to Hegarty Demolition following competitive tendering and work started on site in September 2002 and was to run right through the Winter months. At the onset, the Contractor used a value engineering solution to move the back wall closer to the Park and under the line of the main building. The basement excavation was over 3m deep and required an innovative temporary king post wall to prevent the Park masonry wall and adjacent surface water sewer from collapsing into the excavation.
This effectively increased the size of the basement by one third, but the cost was borne by Hegarty Demolition. This was a significant gift to the Club by the company. It transpired that the base slab was sitting perfectly on solid granite and extensive 24-hour pumping was required to ensure that the excavation remained dry. Heavily reinforced good quality concrete was required throughout to ensure that the new basement remained dry and also had the capacity to support the new building. The contract included for the completion of all foundations and the ground floor. It also included for the completion of the major services and general site clearance in readiness for the main building contract.
While the Basement and Groundworks contract was in progress, tenders were invited for the Building Contract. The seven tenders were opened in the Architects offices on 16th December 2002 and there was much relief that the lowest tender was close to the design team’s estimate and that we were on budget. Following contract formalities, McCabe Construction was appointed to construct the building and commenced works in March 2003.
The Club was fortunate that one of our own would be entrusted with the building and, true to form, Tom employed a number of Club members and friends as sub-contractors starting with Pat Corcoran on block laying, followed by plastering by Brendan Nangle and carpentry by Brian Flynn. Tom Donohue did the muck shifting. The feature granite stonework on the front façade was completed by Shanlieve from Newry after their work was spotted by J J Duffy on a house in Waterloo Road.
Kieran Brennan retired early from the Gardaí to lend his skills in site security. By the Summer, the structure was up, the roof was on and most of the externals on the building were completed. Attention switched to the inside and particularly, mechanical and electrical services to a design delivered free of charge to the Club by a true clubman, Martin Jones. All the while the Development Committee was exercised by the extent of internal finishes. The tender documents were based on basic finishes in order to minimise costs. However, by mid 2003, fundraising was going well on all fronts and the opportunity of going more upmarket, particularly in the public areas, presented itself.
A chance visit to Clan na Gael Fontenoy revealed that they had just completed a new bar and function room to a very high standard. Following enquiries, we established that Intec Design, a specialist interior design practice, was responsible for the design. We contacted them and soon commissioned them to complete a design for our Bar and Function Room. I recall being on holiday in Leitrim when the final design was delivered, and J J Duffy came down to Dromod to discuss it as time was of the essence. On a hot Summer Sunday, sipping beers and looking out over the beautiful Lough Boffin, we agreed that this design had to be delivered, even at the estimated €150k extra price tag.
The Committee and Executive subsequently agreed, and the Design Team was instructed to implement it. In hindsight, this was one of the most important decisions of the entire development as it allowed us to articulate the terrific spaces available to maximum effect. Accordingly, a fully co-ordinated finishes design was implemented in terms of materials, colours and lighting. Quality timbers were complimented by 7 carefully selected tiling, carpets and curtains. All the loose furniture was selected to blend in with the interior design solution. A variety of lights such as lanterns, pendants, wall lights, rope lights and fluorescent lights were fitted in order to create the right mood in each room.
Facilities Description
The Clubhouse consists of a two storey over basement structure. The building was carefully designed to fit into the available site area while respecting its prominence, being sited between the Green Route and Marlay Park. The external treatment of the building was designed to blend in with other buildings in the Park in accordance with the requirements of the Planners.
Accordingly, the walls were finished in dry pebbledash and Rationel timber windows were fitted. The more prominent elevations have lean-twos or overhangs to break up their mass. The main entrance and stairwell area is emphasised by the use of natural granite stone. The roof was designed as a series of pitched roofs and all roof areas were finished in natural slate. The ground floor was mainly designated for recreational purposes. It includes four large dressing rooms, each with its own separate showers. Also included were a referee’s room, an equipment store / boiler room, two committee rooms, a large youth’s room, a Club shop and a large toilet area. It also incorporates separate clean and dirty entrances and lobbies.
The basement was designed to incorporate the bar store / cold room and a large gymnasium area. The first floor is given over to social or cultural activities consisting mostly of a Bar and Function Room with a combined capacity of 350 persons. Supporting facilities include a small kitchen, additional toilet areas and a balcony overlooking Marlay Park. This level is accessed from the central lobby by stairs or lift, facilitating full disabled access. There are two additional fire escape stairways, one at each end of the building. The building was designed and constructed to the highest standards throughout.
The teams entrusted with responsibility were as follows: Design Team : Architect - Brian Mullins of Brian Mullins and Associates Civil & Structural Engineer - Gerry Murphy of G M Murphy & Associates Services Engineer - Martin Jones Quantity Surveyor - Paddy O’Brien of P K O’Brien Associates Interior Designer - Ciaran Leeson of Intec Design Legal Advisors : Frank Ward & Company, Solicitors Contractors : Basement and Groundworks - Hegarty Demolition Main Clubhouse Building - McCabe Construction The involvement of a number of active Club members within these teams meant that their work was more than a normal day’s work and was completed very much as a labour of love, ensuring the highest quality. 8 Those Who Served
Over the decade it took to bring this project to fruition, there were many Club members who contributed freely and in a voluntary capacity, but the following deserve particular mention:
Cathaoirligh : Laurence Giles (1992-1994), Brian Goggins (1995-1997), J J Duffy (1998-2000), Tom Hayes (2001-2003) and Gerard O’Donnell (2004-2006) Rúnaithe : Mattie Murphy (1994-1996), Kieran Duffy (1997-1999), Frank Sullivan (2000-2002 & 2005), Seán Lane (2003-2004).
Development Committee: J J Duffy (Chair), Brian Goggins, Michael Hand, Martin Jones, Gerry Murphy, Pat Smith and Denis Ward. Michael Holland and Tom Kitt also served in the early days. Fundraising Committee: Mattie Murphy (Chair), Kieran Brennan, Tom Hayes, Eamonn Lawlor, Tom McCabe and Dermot McMahon.
A feature of the project was the support and autonomy given to the Development and Fundraising Committees by successive Executives. Also, there was tremendous co-operation between the members of the two committees throughout. These were indeed the individuals who believed and who provided the leadership which ultimately delivered the Clubhouse.
Conclusion
The completion of the Clubhouse was a huge achievement for the Club. It represented our coming of age and placed us on at least an equal footing with all our peers in the county. The period represented a time of great teamwork, co-operation and excitement. We had to learn quickly as the Club entered new territory with legal commitments such as the site Sporting Lease, consultancy and construction contracts, Lottery Deed of Trust, Bank Mortgage and a liquor licence. We were fortunate too with our timing as we rode the Celtic Tiger, raising and spending €2.4m in a few short years.
The development of the M50 generated the site opportunity, the economic boom facilitated unprecedented fundraising opportunities, and the ready availability of credit allowed us to borrow at attractive rates. Notwithstanding this, the opportunities presented were well managed and terrific value for money was achieved throughout, despite high construction inflation. Key to the success of the project was a sound vision and the missionary zeal shown by a small group to deliver it, all on a voluntary basis.
Everything was done to the highest professional standard with sound governance throughout. The quality of the finished building, and its success in operation, is a physical manifestation of the great care and attention to detail exercised over a long campaign. The Official Opening of the Clubhouse was performed by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD on 8th May, 2005, an event attended by political, community and sports leaders, including Nicky Brennan, GAA President.
The cutting of the ribbon was the high point of a festival weekend of celebration which included inter county games in Marlay Park in all of our four codes. Dublin played Tipperary in Senior Camogie, Dublin played Waterford in Senior Ladies Football, Dublin played Limerick in Under 21 Hurling and Dublin played Laois in Senior Football. Above all, this was a chance for the Club membership to take pride in what they had collectively achieved.
However, the Unofficial Opening had taken place a lot earlier, on 12th December 2003 to be precise.
This was the occasion of our coming of age 21st AGM and outgoing Chairman, Tom Hayes, decided that this would be the first 9 AGM in the almost completed Clubhouse. When the normal proceedings were drawing to a close, the newly elected Chairman, Gerry O’Donnell, announced to the unusually large attendance that a treat was in store as they would get a tour of the building followed by a celebratory drink. Tom McCabe had procured a few kegs, and a wet commissioning of the bar was required.
So, as members surveyed the surroundings and puffed up their chests with pride, the question on everybody’s lips was ‘are we four star or five star?’ In the small wee hours when the kegs were nearly empty, Kieran Brennan called those present to order and announced a sing song before we headed for home. Andrew Scollan led the way with that timeless classic, ‘The Streets of London’ and was duly immortalised as the first man ever to sing in our New Clubhouse. Next stop, the Clubhouse Extension – watch this space!
Introduction The old Irish proverb runs ‘Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin’. That is how it was for the early BSJ faithful who dreamed of their very own social venue, full of warmth, friendship, banter and conviviality; a refuge when the games are over, or the day’s work is done. Or indeed a place to celebrate when we bring home that elusive trophy. Every weekend, as we took teams around the County, we admired with envy the facilities available to the competition. It comes as no great surprise therefore, that the acquisition of a site and construction of a Clubhouse was the top agenda item for every new Chairman and Executive.
Site Search
My own involvement commenced in the early 1990’s when Brian Goggins asked me to have a look around for a possible Clubhouse site. Over several months I sought out and spoke with various landowners in the area, all wily developers waiting for the right conditions to get their land rezoned for residential development and make their fortunes. A few of us spent an enjoyable Sunday afternoon touring Ticknock for possible sites. Everywhere we looked seemed hopelessly beyond our reach. The first sliver of light came when, the old Dublin County Council published advance plans for what is now the M50 motorway and its feeder routes.
We picked out a few land ‘cut offs’ which might accommodate a Clubhouse. I presented these to a recently formed Development Committee, chaired by JJ Duffy. To say that members were underwhelmed by the size of these leftovers is no exaggeration as many of them, with roots in the country, had seen their childhood clubs develop big sports centres without concern for land constraints. In any event, it slowly dawned on everybody that this was the only game in town, and we began to examine the possibilities for each site. We settled on a potential 0.6 Ha site beside the side gate of Marlay Park. This site would be created by annexing part of the old Grange Road with the construction of the new Green Route.
The Committee completed a feasibility study on the site and decided that it could accommodate a small bungalow type building incorporating 4 dressing rooms and a meeting room. And so, in late 1994, we started detailed engagement with the recently formed Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. Project Development It was ultimately to take more than a decade of endeavour to deliver the Clubhouse and there were many highs and lows over the period.
Some key project milestones were as follows:
• April ’95 – Formal application to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council for Clubhouse site.
• September ’95 – Feasibility Study entitled ‘Ballinteer St Johns – A Suitable Case for Development’ submitted to the Council in support of the Grange Road site.
• April ’96 – Agreement in principle to our proposal from the Council. 2 • February ’97 – Brian Mullins and Associates appointed as Architects following a selection process based on a developed brief agreed with the Council’s Planning and Parks Departments.
• January ’99 – Green Route construction commenced leading to the freeing up of the site.
• July ’99 – Planning Application lodged following receipt of a ‘letter of interest’ in the site by the Council.
• June ’00 – Full Planning Permission granted. There were no third-party appeals.
• January ’01 – Design Team appointed for detailed design and tender stage.
• June ’01 – Signboard erected on the site. Fire Certificate application lodged.
• September ’01 – Fire Certificate granted.
• March ’02 – Gas main diversion completed. • August ’02 – Eircom cable diversion works completed. Site cleared.
• September ’02 – Hegarty Demolition appointed as Basement and Groundworks contractor.
• October ’02 – Sod turning ceremony performed by Ministers Seamus Brennan and Tom Kitt.
• January ’03 – McCabe Construction appointed as Main Contractor.
• May ‘03 – Site Sporting Lease formally signed by the Council and the Club.
• December ’03 – Completion of Clubhouse and opening for business.
• May ’05 – Official Opening by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD.
All through this period the design was developed and flexed to what it is today. This was achieved through ongoing rounds of meetings and consultations with the Council, particularly the Planning and Parks Departments. The bungalow of the original feasibility study morphed into a dormer bungalow, and then into a two-storey building. Then it was widened and lengthened as the full extent of the available site emerged. Finally, a basement was added. The planners insisted on quality building finishes, reflecting the prominence of the site, overlooking a Regional Park, and we obliged. In return we enlarged the footprint to eventually achieve over 900 square metres of floor space. We also negotiated a priceless pedestrian wicket gate access from the site into Marlay Park. All the while there were differences of opinion about site access and the volume of car parking to be provided.
The Council initially sought 200 spaces, which would have rendered the site unviable, but they eventually agreed to the 65 available spaces on the basis that most Club members are local and would typically walk or cycle to the Clubhouse. But perhaps the greatest coup of all was the agreement on site access. Countless designs were developed in order to achieve an entrance off Grange Road, from the south or Pine Valley end of the site.
However, each one in turn was rejected by the Roads Engineers on traffic safety grounds due to the risk arising from too many turning movements at that location. In the event, the solution came from the opposite end of the site when the Council offered to move back a 50m section of the Park wall in order to remove a pinch point and this allowed us create our very own access roadway and traffic light controlled entrance opposite Stonemasons Way. The partnership model developed between the Council and the Club was a key ingredient of successful project delivery and the Club owes a great debt of gratitude to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council and particularly its officers who helped us along the way. The Funding Challenge If the physical delivery of the Clubhouse was a triumph, then the financing of the development was a minor miracle.
The Club had a Development Fund account for years and any slim surpluses were 3 squirreled away for the Clubhouse. However, the need to build Áras na nÓg meant that virtually all the saved funds had been expended by the time that the Clubhouse project started to come together in earnest in 1997. Around this time, Mattie Murphy was asked to chair a Clubhouse Fundraising Committee with a view to raising the then estimated €1.9m (IR£1.5m) required to deliver the Clubhouse project.
The scale of the challenge was enormous, and the sum involved was several orders of magnitude greater than anything the Club had ever faced before. Following visits to several other clubs who had completed similar developments, a detailed funding plan was conceived. This was shared with the membership and well attended meetings were held in the amharclann in Scoil Naithí at which the overall plans and funding strategy were outlined and debated late into the night. A memory of these events is the excitement generated, but always tinged by incredulity, that we could dare to believe that it was possible to fund or even fit a clubhouse building on an imaginary sliver of land where the traffic still flowed.
The four pillars of the funding strategy were finally agreed as General Fundraising, Membership Scheme, National Lottery / GAA Grants and Bank Borrowing.
It was envisaged that each pillar would raise similar amounts of around €0.5m but that each one would leverage the next so that the last piece of the jigsaw, being the greatest challenge, would benefit from the momentum of the others. General Fundraising General Fundraising was to consist of maximising the Club Lotto and coming up with all manner and means of fundraising. Around that time golf classics, race nights and quiz nights were all the rage, having replaced flag days, raffles and cake sales as the staple diet of GAA club fundraising. As even the most successful of any of these events could only hope to raise €10k, it was quickly realised that a major fundraiser was required if the targeted amount was to be raised.
Further, it was desirable to conceive an event that had wider appeal so as not to be tapping the same cohort of club support. This called for innovation and Mattie, an expert in all matters agricultural and equestrian was well known to have the odd flutter on the nags. It so happened that Leopardstown Racecourse had just built a new 1,500 capacity pavilion for private functions such as sponsored race day events. Meetings were held with track management, and the sums indicated that the Club could raise up to IR£75k in a single event, if it could fill the venue.
The Christmas festival was well known as one of the major annual national hunt events and soon, Sunday 29th December 1999 was set for our first Raceday. Teams of sellers were handpicked and inculcated with three simple messages of ‘Sell, Sell, Sell’ – this event could not fail. And so, when we departed from Ballinteer on the morning of the event, we headed for Leopardstown with a mixture of excitement and fear of the unknown. It transpired that we had sold 1520 tickets, and the pavilion had never accommodated such numbers. After some initial chaos, the management pulled out all the stops to eventually seat and feed everybody. A great day was had by members and their guests but, most importantly, the financial target was exceeded – we were on our way in earnest.
It was decided to go again for the next year, this time on Sunday 28th December, but with the crowd limited to 1,000. While the event sold out, the racecourse was covered with snow when the day arrived, and the festival had to be cancelled. Frantic meetings were held on that morning between the Club officers and racecourse management to see if the fundraiser could be salvaged. In the end, it was decided to run with it. The food was served up as before and afterwards, the racecourse ran videos of old races on the monitors.
The Club threw in additional prizes while Diarmuid Desmond and Seán Lane acted as bookmakers and 900 patrons enjoyed a unique event in the most surreal of settings. After surviving that, nothing 4 could stop us and subsequent successful annual Racedays followed as the model was finessed to include corporate selling, spot prizes, a €10 raffle and we moved to Pierse Hurdle Day in midJanuary, one of the busiest national hunt days of the year. Accordingly, by the 2005 event, we had well exceeded our target.
Membership Scheme
The Membership Scheme was designed to invite each member to answer the question, ‘how badly do I actually want this Clubhouse?’ A series of presentations to the wider club membership, outlining the scope of the project and the benefits likely to accrue to the members and the wider community, drew a huge response. In order to ease the burden on members, Jim Gillick arranged a special BSJ loan scheme with Dundrum Credit Union. Three different pavilion membership options were offered – Life, 20 and 10 year and more than 300 families, accounting for over 1,000 members, joined the scheme. The €600k raised showed that the membership indeed wanted it and demonstrated that we had the makings of a sound project.
Grant Funding National Lottery grant rules required applicants to have at least 30% of estimated project cost secured before the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation would consider the project for support under their Sports Capital Programs. Other hurdles included proof of site ownership, planning permission, letters of support from the locality and further afield, a feasibility study and full financial projections demonstrating viability. We sought proposals from specialist sports consultants, and they quoted up to €20k to draft the application documentation. Given that we were actively fundraising, this seemed like a huge leakage of hard-earned cash, and we figured that we would be assembling most of the data for the consultant in any event.
So, it was decided to mobilize our own team and for several weeks a dozen members, with the historical knowledge and the necessary skills, met for several hours every Saturday afternoon to pull together the submission. We held a meeting with one of the Department’s senior officials who appraised us of their detailed requirements and the basis of the scoring system used in assessing applications. Armed with this information, we formatted the application so that every angle was covered.
As our first application predated the launch of the Membership Scheme, we got signed pledges from 50 members in order to overcome the 30% secured funds threshold. Key to the success of the application was the financial model developed by Gerry Caulfield, which has been remarkably accurate in practice. The Club was successful with 3 different applications for support under the Sports Capital Programme in 2001 (IR£250k), 2002 (€200k) and 2003 (€100k). We received terrific support from our local elected representatives, particularly the late Seamus Brennan RIP, and Tom Kitt, both of whom held ministerial office during the period. Each application was equally well prepared, and such was the professional manner of our dealings with the Department that an excellent relationship was built up which was to serve us well into the future. The Leinster Council of the GAA gave the Club a grant of €28,500 towards the Clubhouse project and ensured that our grant funding pillar delivered over €645k.
Bank Loan
The last funding pillar was Bank Borrowing which we believed would be a doddle compared to what we had endured to date. Detailed proposal documents, complete with business plans, were prepared and submitted to the two regular Club banks for consideration in mid 2002. Following several reminders, we slowly got the thumbs down from both of them. In a state of disbelief, we approached National Irish Bank who indicated an interest. We made our submission and their 5 corporate lending manager, a former Donegal County player, came out to see what we were about. Tom Hayes and I met him at the site and fortunately, Hegarty Demolition had just started digging out the basement and the air was thick with industry, diesel fumes and expectation. We made our pitch and got good engagement.
However, the deal was clinched when Kieran Brennan ambled into view and they both realized that they had played against each other for their respective counties in the 1970’s. Indeed, they both agreed that one of those encounters, a league match between Laois and Donegal on a wet Sunday in Ballybofey, was the best fight they were ever in. Within weeks of that meeting, we had approval for a €630k mortgage over 15 years with attractive interest rates. Of great assistance to our cause was a property valuation furnished by Vinnie Finnegan of Finnegan Estate Agents in Dundrum. Like many others who assisted us along the way, we are still waiting for his fee invoice.
With the last pillar of the fundraising in place, we had €2.4m secured, safely above the fundraising budget.
Site Preparation
The Council was persuaded to effectively donate the site to the Club and the final legal agreement was for a 35-year Sporting Lease ‘subject to an annual rent of €1’. While the Club greatly appreciated the effective gifting of the site by the Council, it is fair to say that it did not come entirely without its burdens. For a start, the Green Route contractor had used it to dispose of his surplus excavated material which had subsequently to be removed by the Club. The footprint of the building sat on the old Grange Road and all the utility services had to be diverted around the building before construction could commence. The long access road, the relocation of a 50m section of the park wall and the installation of a traffic light-controlled junction added further cost. Finally, the shape of the site, together with its level difference with the new Green Route, meant that we were required to construct over 200 m of retaining wall with a 2m high steel fence in order to secure the site.
On the credit side, we did inherit a perfectly good surface water sewer which we used to drain away rainwater from the roofs and car parks. Then there was a section of the Grange Road itself which was salvaged and is now part of the entrance road and car park. Also, we persuaded the Council to lay a section of the Clubhouse foul sewer connection to Heather estate, underneath the Green Route, concurrent with road construction, even before we had planning permission. Finally, the cost of the traffic lights was largely absorbed by the Council through the good offices of Tom Toomey. As part of a cost and risk management strategy, it was decided to break the construction into packages rather than award one single contract.
This approach also sat well with ongoing fundraising. Individual service diversions were negotiated by JJ Duffy with the utility companies. A 300mm gas main had to be diverted and this was completed fairly painlessly in March 2002 with the assistance of a Club member who was a Bord Gais employee. The Council was prepared to abandon the water main as a new one had been laid in the new road. The only remaining services were Eircom communications cables, and it transpired that seven major coaxial cables serving Sandyford ran in ducts beneath the Clubhouse site. The company had been privatised and was quoting over €100k for doing the diversion with no flexibility on price. Several months of negotiations got the price down to €80k provided the Club did all the excavations.
These were done in March 2002 and, such was the complexity of the operation that it took Eircom five months to lay the new cables and splice them at both ends. 6 Clubhouse Construction The first major package was the Basement and Groundworks contract which was essentially an enabling contract for the Clubhouse proper. It was awarded to Hegarty Demolition following competitive tendering and work started on site in September 2002 and was to run right through the Winter months. At the onset, the Contractor used a value engineering solution to move the back wall closer to the Park and under the line of the main building. The basement excavation was over 3m deep and required an innovative temporary king post wall to prevent the Park masonry wall and adjacent surface water sewer from collapsing into the excavation.
This effectively increased the size of the basement by one third, but the cost was borne by Hegarty Demolition. This was a significant gift to the Club by the company. It transpired that the base slab was sitting perfectly on solid granite and extensive 24-hour pumping was required to ensure that the excavation remained dry. Heavily reinforced good quality concrete was required throughout to ensure that the new basement remained dry and also had the capacity to support the new building. The contract included for the completion of all foundations and the ground floor. It also included for the completion of the major services and general site clearance in readiness for the main building contract.
While the Basement and Groundworks contract was in progress, tenders were invited for the Building Contract. The seven tenders were opened in the Architects offices on 16th December 2002 and there was much relief that the lowest tender was close to the design team’s estimate and that we were on budget. Following contract formalities, McCabe Construction was appointed to construct the building and commenced works in March 2003.
The Club was fortunate that one of our own would be entrusted with the building and, true to form, Tom employed a number of Club members and friends as sub-contractors starting with Pat Corcoran on block laying, followed by plastering by Brendan Nangle and carpentry by Brian Flynn. Tom Donohue did the muck shifting. The feature granite stonework on the front façade was completed by Shanlieve from Newry after their work was spotted by J J Duffy on a house in Waterloo Road.
Kieran Brennan retired early from the Gardaí to lend his skills in site security. By the Summer, the structure was up, the roof was on and most of the externals on the building were completed. Attention switched to the inside and particularly, mechanical and electrical services to a design delivered free of charge to the Club by a true clubman, Martin Jones. All the while the Development Committee was exercised by the extent of internal finishes. The tender documents were based on basic finishes in order to minimise costs. However, by mid 2003, fundraising was going well on all fronts and the opportunity of going more upmarket, particularly in the public areas, presented itself.
A chance visit to Clan na Gael Fontenoy revealed that they had just completed a new bar and function room to a very high standard. Following enquiries, we established that Intec Design, a specialist interior design practice, was responsible for the design. We contacted them and soon commissioned them to complete a design for our Bar and Function Room. I recall being on holiday in Leitrim when the final design was delivered, and J J Duffy came down to Dromod to discuss it as time was of the essence. On a hot Summer Sunday, sipping beers and looking out over the beautiful Lough Boffin, we agreed that this design had to be delivered, even at the estimated €150k extra price tag.
The Committee and Executive subsequently agreed, and the Design Team was instructed to implement it. In hindsight, this was one of the most important decisions of the entire development as it allowed us to articulate the terrific spaces available to maximum effect. Accordingly, a fully co-ordinated finishes design was implemented in terms of materials, colours and lighting. Quality timbers were complimented by 7 carefully selected tiling, carpets and curtains. All the loose furniture was selected to blend in with the interior design solution. A variety of lights such as lanterns, pendants, wall lights, rope lights and fluorescent lights were fitted in order to create the right mood in each room.
Facilities Description
The Clubhouse consists of a two storey over basement structure. The building was carefully designed to fit into the available site area while respecting its prominence, being sited between the Green Route and Marlay Park. The external treatment of the building was designed to blend in with other buildings in the Park in accordance with the requirements of the Planners.
Accordingly, the walls were finished in dry pebbledash and Rationel timber windows were fitted. The more prominent elevations have lean-twos or overhangs to break up their mass. The main entrance and stairwell area is emphasised by the use of natural granite stone. The roof was designed as a series of pitched roofs and all roof areas were finished in natural slate. The ground floor was mainly designated for recreational purposes. It includes four large dressing rooms, each with its own separate showers. Also included were a referee’s room, an equipment store / boiler room, two committee rooms, a large youth’s room, a Club shop and a large toilet area. It also incorporates separate clean and dirty entrances and lobbies.
The basement was designed to incorporate the bar store / cold room and a large gymnasium area. The first floor is given over to social or cultural activities consisting mostly of a Bar and Function Room with a combined capacity of 350 persons. Supporting facilities include a small kitchen, additional toilet areas and a balcony overlooking Marlay Park. This level is accessed from the central lobby by stairs or lift, facilitating full disabled access. There are two additional fire escape stairways, one at each end of the building. The building was designed and constructed to the highest standards throughout.
The teams entrusted with responsibility were as follows: Design Team : Architect - Brian Mullins of Brian Mullins and Associates Civil & Structural Engineer - Gerry Murphy of G M Murphy & Associates Services Engineer - Martin Jones Quantity Surveyor - Paddy O’Brien of P K O’Brien Associates Interior Designer - Ciaran Leeson of Intec Design Legal Advisors : Frank Ward & Company, Solicitors Contractors : Basement and Groundworks - Hegarty Demolition Main Clubhouse Building - McCabe Construction The involvement of a number of active Club members within these teams meant that their work was more than a normal day’s work and was completed very much as a labour of love, ensuring the highest quality. 8 Those Who Served
Over the decade it took to bring this project to fruition, there were many Club members who contributed freely and in a voluntary capacity, but the following deserve particular mention:
Cathaoirligh : Laurence Giles (1992-1994), Brian Goggins (1995-1997), J J Duffy (1998-2000), Tom Hayes (2001-2003) and Gerard O’Donnell (2004-2006) Rúnaithe : Mattie Murphy (1994-1996), Kieran Duffy (1997-1999), Frank Sullivan (2000-2002 & 2005), Seán Lane (2003-2004).
Development Committee: J J Duffy (Chair), Brian Goggins, Michael Hand, Martin Jones, Gerry Murphy, Pat Smith and Denis Ward. Michael Holland and Tom Kitt also served in the early days. Fundraising Committee: Mattie Murphy (Chair), Kieran Brennan, Tom Hayes, Eamonn Lawlor, Tom McCabe and Dermot McMahon.
A feature of the project was the support and autonomy given to the Development and Fundraising Committees by successive Executives. Also, there was tremendous co-operation between the members of the two committees throughout. These were indeed the individuals who believed and who provided the leadership which ultimately delivered the Clubhouse.
Conclusion
The completion of the Clubhouse was a huge achievement for the Club. It represented our coming of age and placed us on at least an equal footing with all our peers in the county. The period represented a time of great teamwork, co-operation and excitement. We had to learn quickly as the Club entered new territory with legal commitments such as the site Sporting Lease, consultancy and construction contracts, Lottery Deed of Trust, Bank Mortgage and a liquor licence. We were fortunate too with our timing as we rode the Celtic Tiger, raising and spending €2.4m in a few short years.
The development of the M50 generated the site opportunity, the economic boom facilitated unprecedented fundraising opportunities, and the ready availability of credit allowed us to borrow at attractive rates. Notwithstanding this, the opportunities presented were well managed and terrific value for money was achieved throughout, despite high construction inflation. Key to the success of the project was a sound vision and the missionary zeal shown by a small group to deliver it, all on a voluntary basis.
Everything was done to the highest professional standard with sound governance throughout. The quality of the finished building, and its success in operation, is a physical manifestation of the great care and attention to detail exercised over a long campaign. The Official Opening of the Clubhouse was performed by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, TD on 8th May, 2005, an event attended by political, community and sports leaders, including Nicky Brennan, GAA President.
The cutting of the ribbon was the high point of a festival weekend of celebration which included inter county games in Marlay Park in all of our four codes. Dublin played Tipperary in Senior Camogie, Dublin played Waterford in Senior Ladies Football, Dublin played Limerick in Under 21 Hurling and Dublin played Laois in Senior Football. Above all, this was a chance for the Club membership to take pride in what they had collectively achieved.
However, the Unofficial Opening had taken place a lot earlier, on 12th December 2003 to be precise.
This was the occasion of our coming of age 21st AGM and outgoing Chairman, Tom Hayes, decided that this would be the first 9 AGM in the almost completed Clubhouse. When the normal proceedings were drawing to a close, the newly elected Chairman, Gerry O’Donnell, announced to the unusually large attendance that a treat was in store as they would get a tour of the building followed by a celebratory drink. Tom McCabe had procured a few kegs, and a wet commissioning of the bar was required.
So, as members surveyed the surroundings and puffed up their chests with pride, the question on everybody’s lips was ‘are we four star or five star?’ In the small wee hours when the kegs were nearly empty, Kieran Brennan called those present to order and announced a sing song before we headed for home. Andrew Scollan led the way with that timeless classic, ‘The Streets of London’ and was duly immortalised as the first man ever to sing in our New Clubhouse. Next stop, the Clubhouse Extension – watch this space!
