> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dublininquirer.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Council okays plan for a new sports pitch at, but not solely for, a school in the Liberties - URL: https://www.dublininquirer.com/council-okays-plan-for-a-new-sports-pitch-at-but-not-solely-for-a-school-in-the-liberties/ - Published: 2026-08-27T23:17:30.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-27T23:17:30.000Z - Description: Plans show the play area at St James's National School on Basin View converted into an all-weather pitch, with floodlights, that can be used by local teams and community groups seven days a week. - Author: Lois Kapila - Tags: sports pitches, City Desk There's a black gate, locked most of the time, on the boundary between St James' National School and the linear park near Fatima. The other side of the high wall is a school play area, part grassy field, part concrete space. But earlier this month, on 5 August, the school [was granted planning permission](https://planning.agileapplications.ie/dublincity/application-details/176150?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Dublin City Council to turn this play area into an all-weather pitch. It's to serve not just the school's own students, but also many of the Liberties community sports groups and clubs – whether soccer, rugby, or Gaelic – who have been desperate for more, higher standard, sports spaces to train and play. The project is a partnership between St James’s National School, Sporting Liberties, and the Liberties Community Project, says the application. The pitch itself will be much bigger than the grassy field used by clubs at the moment, with two overlapping playing fields, say plans. The gate will be widened slightly to allow controlled access for community groups, and commercial operations, who have booked it, they say. The application for the new pitch is now in the standstill period, during which the council's positive decision can be appealed to An Coimisiún Pleanála. But it attracted only a flurry of submissions in support when it went in – from local politicians, Gardaí, and members of clubs who had partnered up on the application and said they were eager to use the space. In one submission, Bryan Patten said his kid plays with Liberty Saints, the rugby club, which currently trains on the ground as is – uneven and stony, with space enough for drills but not for practice matches to round off sessions. His son dreams of the club being able to host a home game, wrote Patten. "A dream of having people over for a game and some crisps after doesn't seem unreasonable." The application said that the outlined operating hours had been structured "to balance community access with the protection of residential amenity". There'll be a structured booking system, with half of the hours allocated to commercial, paying users, and half to community groups for free, it says. ## What's in the plans? The lack of all-weather sporting grounds in the Liberties has been a major challenge for the community, the application says. The area is awash with of school-age children, sports clubs, and youth organisations, it says. But local clubs and groups often have to travel outside the area to access facilities, they said, which is a barrier for kids to get involved, and stay involved, in sports. At the moment, the site in question is already an important open space but it's in a bad way, the application says. The surface is in poor condition, the drainage and lighting are bad, and there's a lack of supporting infrastructure it says, which means "it cannot reliably accommodate structured sport, training sessions or community recreational activity throughout the year". The approved plans show [a brand new](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28582870-design-statement-for-new-pitch-at-st-james-national-school-on-basin-view/?ref=dublininquirer.com) sports pitch, in an upgraded landscape. At 2,400sqm, it will be bigger than the current grassy field. And, around it, is space for access, circulation around the pitch, and some planters and cycle parking. Groundworks will even out the playing surface for the pitch, too, the application says. There's to be a paved seating area at the northern end, with some benches, it says. Site access will remain the same – via the existing gate in the south boundary wall, it says. For the school, students can access it via the school complex to the north, it says. The project [is being bankrolled](https://www.sportingliberties.ie/press-releases/mediolanum-expands-philanthropic-collective?ref=dublininquirer.com) by Fondazione Mediolanum, the philanthropic organisation connected with asset-managers Mediolanum International Funds Limited. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/9f/78/9f782dda-9dc9-44d1-b817-fe80588bdc76/content/images/2026/08/P1080799-1.JPG) The gate from the linear park. Photo by Lois Kapila. ## How will it be used? The new facility will be managed by St James Primary School, with assistance from the Liberties Sports Infrastructure Committee – made up of the Liberties Community Project and Sporting Liberties, [the operations plan says.](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28582869-operation-plan-for-new-sports-pitch-in-the-liberties-at-st-james-national-school-at-basin-view/?ref=dublininquirer.com) The all-weather pitch will be used from 8am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, from 9am to 10pm on Saturdays, and from 9am to 9pm on Sundays, says the operations plan. "Outside of these hours, the facility will be securely locked and all floodlighting will be switched off," it says. There'll be 36 slots a week available to book, it says. It won't be an unmanaged open-access space. That means there will be priority access for local clubs and young groups during peak training hours, it says, with open community access during designated times to make sure the wider public can benefit too. The facility will be run on a not-for-profit basis, it says. But to make sure it's sustainable, half of the available hours are to be designated for paid commercial bookings for somewhere between €100 and €150 an hour, the application says. The other half of available hours are to be reserved, free-of-charge, for community, youth, and local club use, it says. "Revenue from paid bookings will be reinvested directly into maintenance and community programming," it says.