Council looks set to agree plans to revamp Mountjoy Square despite pushback from local sports clubs

On Tuesday, councillors on the Central Area Committee noted council plans to restore Mountjoy Square as a Georgian Square. 

The plans are now set to go to the full council for a vote in June, and despite concerns raised by local sports clubs, councillors say the revamp is likely to be agreed. 

Sports clubs say the council’s plan would mean that they lose facilities, in an area that has no full-sized sports pitches. 

The park in Mountjoy Square currently has a tarmac multi-use games area. The plan for the rejuvenated square includes a lawn, which can be used for kickabouts, events and other sporting activities – but no designated pitch for field sports. 

The clubs want the plans altered to include designated playgrounds and several small astroturf pitches, says Paul Flynn, chairperson of Dublin City Sports Club Network, an umbrella group representing around 50 sports clubs in and around the north inner-city.

Flynn says he is surprised that the council’s plans are unchanged following the public consultation. “This is power at its very worst,” he says. “The vast majority of residents support us.”

The council received 196 submissions, according to report from its parks department provided to committee members for their meeting Tuesday. 

The submissions flagged the need for sports facilities, playgrounds, and security measures, among other things. 

Independent Councillor Nial Ring says that all the local councillors have agreed to the parks department’s plans from the beginning. He supports them “100 per cent,” he says. 

The councillors are aware of the sports clubs’ concerns, says Ring. “It was discussed at the early committee, and all councillors agreed to the plan as is,” he says. 

He expects the plans to be approved by the full council in June, he says. The full council still has to vote, but usually goes with the decision of the local area councillors.

Flynn, of the Dublin City Sports Club Network, says the sports clubs, as well as some other community groups, are organising a meeting next Thursday. “This is not over yet,” he says. 

Balancing diverse needs

Mountjoy Square is a hotly contested space because it is the pretty much the only green space in an area with a huge population. 

The council is trying to balance a diverse set of needs and requirements, says the parks department’s report to the Central Area Committee on 19 May.

“The community is diverse, and this is represented in the different desires and issues raised,” says the report. “The proposed design seeks to balance varied community needs within the available space, ensuring the park becomes a more inclusive and accessible resource for everyone.”

“The planner’s report is available on request,” said council landscape architect Gareth Toolan. “I’m not allowed to circulate that.”

But the report the parks department gave the committee doesn’t outline any changes to the plans as a result of the public consultation.

Submissions flagged a desire for a tea room “to increase footfall and improve atmosphere”, the report says. That’s “beyond the scope of this phase”, the report says.

Submissions requested upgraded and extended “play facilities”. “The proposal significantly expands and upgrades the park's existing play facilities, shifting the focus toward nature-based play for all abilities.”

Submissions flagged “Concern about the loss or reduction of sports facilities”. Actually, “the proposal significantly expands the park’s recreational value”, the report says. 

“The outdoor gym will increase from a single unit to a 10-station facility, while the current 2,000sqm hardstanding area will be replaced by a 4,000sqm high-specification constructed lawn,” it says. 

“Engineered to withstand compaction, this level, well-drained, and irrigated surface will facilitate everything from events, picnics and gatherings to informal games,” it says.  

The report says that the majority of respondents support the redevelopment of Mountjoy Square Park, “recognising its potential to become a landmark open space in the north city centre”.

It wasn’t possible to fact-check this as the planner’s report was not published, and the planning file shows only five of those observation letters. 

Four of those oppose the council’s proposed redesign: a child asks the council not to change the playground she loves, the Belvedere Football Club emphasises the importance of sport, local resident Roland Bosbach urges the council to improve what’s there rather than overhaul it, and the North Great George’s Street Residents’ Association says similar.

The fifth submission, from the Mountjoy Square Society, formed to defend the square’s Georgian architecture, supports the “inspirational plans”.

The pitch for sport

In a presentation in January, the sports network said it would like a large indoor studio for dancing, drama and martial arts, as well as two astro-turf pitches, new tennis courts, and upgraded basketball courts.

There is a shortage of places to play and train says Flynn and children are not getting involved in sports due to a lack of facilities. 

“We really need to build academies,” he says. They could do that on several small astroturf pitches, in the absence of full-sized pitches, he says. 

So far the council has not proposed any plan to provide a full-size soccer or GAA pitches anywhere in Dublin 1. 

Anto Perry, secretary of Hardwicke FC, says that locals are concerned that without organised sports activities in the park, the large grassy lawn will be used in an anti-social way. 

Bringing in security guards doesn’t work in the north inner-city, he says. “Locals police their own stuff themselves,” he says. “It doesn’t work with security.” 

Yes, there is a desperate need for pitches in the north inner-city, but there is also a desperate need for recreational space for informal play, sitting around and walking space to cater to all potential park users, said Green Party Councillor Janet Horner in January. 

Graham Hickey, CEO of the Dublin Civic Trust, said that since the square is an Architectural Conservation Area, “any proposal for development of the square would have to be guided by the architectural heritage protection guidelines”.

“There is a huge amount of kids’ play scattered the whole way through the park as well as in designated areas,” he said. The new designs include a basketball hoop too, and a sensory garden, Hickey said. 

At the Central Area Committee

At the Central Area Committee’s meeting on 19 May, Horner, the Green Party councillor, asked how sports uses can be facilitated together with general recreation space in the new design. 

She suggested lines or nets to indicate that the lawn can be used for sports. “This seems to be a recurring theme that people think it's an ornamental lawn,” she says. 

Toolan, the council landscape architect, said that: “We’re going to create a constructed lawn that can facilitate events and casual sporting for the whole community.”  

All the responses highlighted that there is a very diverse community, he said. The park is 100m square, so by keeping the uses flexible, more people can use the park, he said. 

There should be an enclosed area for toddlers, too, Horner said. 

Toolan agreed that many observations flagged concerns around toddlers in the park. “Through detailed design … we think we will be able to facilitate an enclosure for toddlers,” he said.

Ring, the independent councillor, said that “196 submissions show the interest in getting this re-imagining done”. 

Social Democrats Councillor Cat O’Driscoll, who is chair of the central area committee, said she thought “the concerns about sporting facilities do need to be looked at”. 

“Are there solid changes happening to the plan, and when do we get to see those?” she asked.

Independent councillor Christy Burke asked about costs. Toolan said the works, including installing new pedestrian crossings, should cost around €7 million, and he hopes that construction will start next year.

The committee agreed to note the report. “It is now the intention to present this proposal and the Chief Executive's report at the June City Council meeting for formal approval,” says the report.