Dublin City Council grants Part 8 Planning Approval for the Redevelopment of Dalymount Park
Published on 13th February 2024
Dublin City Council is pleased to announce the approval of the Part 8 Planning Application for the Dalymount Park Redevelopment Project at Monday’s Council meeting.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste welcomed the approval of the Dalymount Park Redevelopment Part 8 Planning Application by his Dublin City Council Colleagues. He went on to say, “The redevelopment of this iconic stadium will provide a modern municipal facility that will not just be of benefit to Bohemian FC but also the wider Dublin Community. Today is a major milestone in the project. I’d like to acknowledge all the ongoing hard work and commitment from both the City Council staff and the Design Team tasked with delivering this project and I have no doubt this will continue as we progress to the next stage of the redevelopment process”
The architect led integrated design team, will continue with detailed design over the coming months During this process there will be further ongoing consultation with all the relevant stakeholders including the FAI, Bohemian FC and the wider North Dublin Community.
The design and planning elements of the project are being funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media (DTCAGSM) via the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) Stream 1.
Dalymount Park is one of the city council’s major capital infrastructure projects, which will not only improve the sporting infrastructure of the city but also play a major in role in the regeneration and enhancement of the Public Domain in Phibsborough. The current plan is to develop a new four-sided municipal stadium (c. 8,034 capacity) featuring:
- Reorientation of the pitch to a North/South Axis (105m x 68m) and installation of a new sand-based grass pitch.
- New stands to the east and west side with provision for c. 6,240 seats and two new terraces to the north and south with provision for c. 1,794 standing
- The provision of a public thoroughfare along the eastern boundary connecting North Circular Road and Connaught Street to include various eateries and a new public plaza
- A community facility with an area of 585sq.m over two floors to include a multi-functional community room and a community gym.
- The provision of modern match-day facilities for teams and officials.
The first phase of enabling works, including the demolition of the Connaught Street Stand, have now been completed.
The current timeline for completion of the redeveloped stadium is the commencement of the 2027 season but this is very much dependent on further funding becoming available for the construction stage from Government (via Stream 2 of LSSIF).
Daniel Lambert, Chief Operating Officer of Bohemian FC commented, “Bohemian FC is delighted to mark this hugely significant day. We have engaged extensively with DCC since their acquisition of the stadium in 2015 and thank them for their considerable efforts to get us to this point. We would also like to put on record our gratitude to various ministers for their engagement with the club over the years, in particular the strong support of Minister Paschal Donohoe, and also the cross-party support and engagement of many local TDs and councillors throughout the process
With the penultimate step now complete, we call on the government to ensure that the appropriate funding mechanism is in place to enable progression to construction phase without any delay. As we have seen across capital projects, with levels of inflation, any delays to the process can cause significant added costs to the exchequer.
We now have full planning permission to deliver the right stadium for Bohs, Dublin 7 and the city as a whole that has unanimous public and political support. What we need now is the government to ensure funding is forthcoming so that we can have a community stadium to be proud of at the Home of Irish Football."
Jonathan Hill, FAI Chief Executive added, “This is great news and we thank and congratulate both Dublin City Council and Bohemian FC for all they have done to get us to this point. This is an exciting step forward in our wider Facility Vision where we are looking to replicate what the club has achieved to date here across other LOI clubs where a similar transformation of facilities, for player, fans and our media partners will help us to change the face of Irish club football moving forward.”