A FOXROCK RUGBY club has claimed the sale of a five-acre playing field to a local GAA club looks like an attempt to “stamp out underage rugby in Foxrock/Cabinteely in order to grow” Gaelic Games.

That’s despite the Geraldines P Moran GAA club stating that the deal involves an agreement that other sporting clubs will continue to have the same access to the playing fields.

Last week, Geraldines P Moran, known as “the Gers”, announced that it had reached an agreement with Foxrock Parish to purchase the Foxrock Parish Sports Fields, which is located next to the Dunnes Stores in Cornelscourt.

The site was purchased by the Foxrock Catholic Parish in 1959 and was made available, free of charge, to local sporting clubs.

The Gers said last week that its deal to buy the site “ensures continued access for the next 999 years for all other current users of the Cornelscourt grounds”.

The playing fields in Cornelscourt Geraldines P Moran GAA Geraldines P Moran GAA

“All users will benefit from the much-needed enhancements and improvements that will be delivered in the coming years,” the statement added.

However, St. Brigid’s Rugby Club has called on the Catholic Church to stop the sale and said it is “seriously concerned that the GAA is attempting to impose conditions that are in breach of equality legislation”.

St. Brigid’s Rugby Club has around 160 members between the ages of 5 and 13 years and was founded in 1976.

The rugby club said it is “deeply concerned” about the “secret nature” of the proposed sale and that Foxrock Parish has “precluded” the rugby club from the process.

St Brigid’s Rugby Club also claimed that Foxrock Parish is “demanding” that the rugby club “sign a letter confirming that all future use of the field is at the behest of the GAA club”.

Morgan Cassidy, chair of St. Brigid’s RFC, said the club was “kept completely in the dark until the sale of the parish sports field was announced and we are no longer playing on a level playing field”.

He added that this has “undermined the trust, co-operation and community spirit that has existed between the two clubs for almost 50 years”.

Cassidy said he had met with Foxrock Parish and “requested them to stop this sale, to maintain the status quo and diocesan trust which guarantees equitable access to the grounds”.

“Their decision to favour one sport over another is clearly unfair and it must be overturned,” said Cassidy who added that “it appears as if they want to stamp out underage rugby in Foxrock/Cabinteely in order to grow their own sport”.

He also called on voting members of the Gers to “vote with their conscience to reject this sale”.

In a statement four days ago, the Gers said it is aware of comments that the club is “attempting to lessen or terminate St Brigid’s Rugby Clubs’ usage of the grounds”.

It said that written into the deal is an agreement that the GAA club will permit current users to have the same access to the playing fields as they currently have once the deal is concluded.

The Gers, in a statement on 26 July, said a redacted version of this agreement was shared with the rugby club and that “they were asked to revert to the legal advisers of the Parish by today (26 July) to explain how it does not protect their usage”.

At the time of the statement on 26 July, the Gers said St Brigid’s had yet to reply.

“When the rugby club’s legal advisers revert to the Parish with their feedback on the side agreement, the Geraldines are happy to meet to address any concerns,” said the Gers in its 26 July statement.

It added: “Our club is enriched by having members and coaches who operate in both clubs and we believe that this will continue well into the future, with the further benefit of improving sports facilities in Cornelscourt.”

Written by Diarmuid Pepper and posted on TheJournal.ie