Cherry Orchard loses only astroturf as council tarmacs over pitch
The only astroturf pitch in the Dublin suburb of Cherry Orchard has been removed by Dublin City Council (DCC).
Sinn Féin councillor Daithí Doolan said the authority told him it was due to health and safety reasons.
Mr Doolan said the removal of the pitch, which has been surfaced with tarmac by the council, was “totally unacceptable”.
"I have contacted Dublin City Council senior management urging them to reinstate an astro[turf pitch] as soon as possible,” he said.
The authority isn’t intending to replace the pitch, located behind St Ultan’s National School, until at least 2027 or 2028 when Cherry Orchard Park is fully redeveloped, he said.
"But this does not stop them from either repairing or replacing this important facility…. the council cannot expect this whole community to go without their only astro for this length of time.
“Two years without an astro, that is not the message you want for Cherry Orchard. We need to be putting more infrastructure in, not losing infrastructure.”
Mr Doolan said local sports clubs that use the pitch, like ROC Celtic, were now being expected to travel outside their area and pay for other facilities in order to train.
"This is both expensive and impractical,” he said.
"The message is very clear. All we want for Christmas is our astro back in Cherry Orchard.”
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr Doolan said the community of Cherry Orchard was already suffering with a lack of infrastructure, and this was a further blow to the area.
“It’s losing its facilities. It has one playground and two prisons. It had an astro but it doesn’t even have that now,” he said. “That’s how the State views this community.”
He acknowledged that the price of installing and maintaining astroturf pitches was “very expensive”, but said this removal sends out “the total wrong message” to the local community.
"They’re going to see this as an attack on them. They’re going to see this as another loss.”
The new tarmac surface is not suitable for children to play or train on, he said.
"We want a full astro, or at least a temporary spray-on job until we have the full park developed. It’s now an empty space.”
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said:
"A temporary tarmac surface was laid in the last couple of weeks as a temporary measure as the existing astro surface was potentially hazardous. Given the timescale for the implementation of a longer term plan for the park we will review the appropriate short term surface for the pitch early in the new year.”