Ballincollig rugby club drive on with €1m plan to revamp their ground

BALLINCOLLIG RFC will be spending €1m in an ambitious plan to upgrade their playing facilities at Tanner Park.

With Phase one – the drainage and floodlighting of pitches two and three due to be complete this year, club president Jim Nyhan says the works are necessary to cater for their ever-growing underage and adult sections.

“We are in our 40th year as a club and originally the pitches were built on Classes Lake so the drainage work is necessary so kids can play there on a Saturday and not come in destroyed in mud,” says club president Jim Nyhan.

“The first phase of putting in drainage and floodlighting on our second and third pitch is on course to be completed towards the end of this year.

“In total, there will be six stages and with the help of the Quish family and a lot of voluntary work to collect money we will make it happen over the 10 years of the plan.” 

Turf Solutions will construct two new full-sized grass rugby pitches to replace the existing second pitch and training area which have had severe flooding and drainage issues in recent years.

The club, which can name Munster and Ireland international prop James Cronin as one of their former underage players, will upgrade ball netting and goalposts in phase two. 

The main pitch at their Ballincollig base will see the drainage upgraded in phase three with an all-weather training area, and a running track around pitches two and three are also part of the ambitious plans.

“The track will be as much for the community as the club as it will be well lit and somewhere to walk in the winter months for locals and the whole project is improving facilities for the locality,” said the club president.