Cllr Adrian Henchy has welcomed news of progress on the sporting and recreation campus at Ballymastone. He said, “Since 2014 this has been a project that started from the ground up with Lambay Sports Athletics club joining with the existing sporting clubs at Ballymastone, St. Ita’s AFC and St. Pats Gaa in creating a vision for a truly world class sporting and recreation campus to serve the needs of our 3 local clubs, our local schools and indeed the wider Donabate Portrane peninsula. In recent weeks this project took a major step forward through the direct intervention of Fingal County Council Chief Executive Ann Marie Farrelly and my colleague and Minister for Housing, Local Government & Heritage Darragh O’Brien who negotiated and agreed the service site funding of €11.5 million towards Infrastructural improvements within Donabate Portrane to include the early delivery of the Ballymastone Sporting, Recreational & Educational Campus which is an enormous boost to the local community and shows lessons have been learned where we are now delivering much needed infrastructure in advance of additional housing in the area.

This project would not have happened without the outstanding work, goodwill, cooperation and ability to always see the bigger picture for all all of our local community from all three of our local clubs, St. Ita’s AFC, St. Pats GAA and Lambay Sports Athletics Club who will now finally have a home and be able to move in beside the already wonderful facilities provided by both St. Ita’s and St. Pats. When delivered this top class campus will greatly add to the already wonderful facilities that have been developed & provided for the local community by both St. Pats Gaa and St. Ita’s AFC. The addition of a fully Floodlit 8 Lane running track including a grass soccer pitch as well as a Full size All Weather GAA and Soccer pitches along with improved access and parking at Ballymastone is long overdue. I am also particularly pleased that an issue close to my heart and something that has regularly been raised with me the needs to also provide for younger people outside of formal sports will also see the campus provide a Junior & Senior playground as well as a large scale Skatepark which will ensure it is truly a campus for all of our local community.

Finally I want to especially recognise the enormous efforts on behalf of St Patrick’s GAA Club from Brian Mc Grath and Felim Mc Allister, St Ita’s AFC, Conor Tonra and Brian Tighe and Lambay Sports & Athletics Club, Dara Carr and Sonia Francis who have all represented their clubs with utmost professionalism, goodwill along with an ability to always see the bigger picture on behalf of their club members and the wider Donabate Portrane area. I now look forward to over the next 12-18 months to finally see construction getting underway on what will truly be a World class sporting/recreational campus at the very heart of the Donabate Portrane community”