Cork TD calls on FAI to surrender idle Glanmire lands to county council

A CORK North Central TD has called for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to surrender a piece of land which has lain idle for more than a decade.

It comes as FAI’s Chief Operations Officer David Courell confirmed that plans for a Centre of Excellence at the site were shelved last year.

The 30 acres of land at Brooke Lodge Glanmire, which has been leased to the FAI since 2017 by Cork County Council, should be surrendered to Cork County Council for use by local clubs, Fine Gael’s Colm Burke said.

He explained that though leased in 2017, the original agreement between Cork County Council and FAI was entered into prior to 2011, so these lands have been left unused for 13 years.

Mr Burke has said that the return of the land to Cork County Council would enable it “to be developed and used by local sporting clubs including Riverstown FC for the benefit of the community and the area,” noting that Glanmire’s rapidly growing population would benefit from this space.

He explained that in 2020, €2 million of funding was awarded to the FAI to develop a centre of excellence at this site, but in the Public Accounts Committee in Leinster House last week, FAI COO David Courell confirmed that this funding was not drawn down, and that in May 2023, plans for the Centre of Excellence were shelved.

“While noting that this is regrettable, he stated that the FAI has been working towards a solution to make the site available for community use,” Mr Burke said.

He concluded, “I am calling on the FAI to surrender the land to Cork County Council to enable the Council to work with local sports clubs for the benefit of the community.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the area last summer where he heard from local representatives about the need for expanded facilities for local clubs.