Donegal Community Stadium

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Donegal Community Stadium
Mcmenamin.jpg
Artist's impression
LocationRailway Road, Stranorlar, Republic of Ireland
Capacity5,400[1]
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground2008
ArchitectJoseph McMenamin & Sons
Tenants
Finn Harps FC

The Donegal Community Stadium is a stalled construction project in Stranorlar, Ireland.[1] The stadium was initially intended to have a capacity of 6,800 spectators, and proposed as an association football venue to replace Finn Park as the home stadium of Finn Harps F.C.. Planning permission was granted in June 2007,[2] and ground breaking was started in May 2008. After intermediate delays, work recommenced in late 2011 with foundations in place.[3][4] The project was again delayed in October 2012,[5] with "minimal work" undertaken between 2014 and 2020, pending €6.7 million in additional government funding.[6][7] As of April 2021, a "provisional allocation" of government funding was reportedly announced.[8]

History[]

Drawings of main stand from original plans
Rear of main stand with admin block as constructed before work stalled

Initial drawings had the stadium planned as a 7,000 seater stadium, but minor changes were made to make it a 6,600 all-seat stadium. Ground was broken in 2008 but it wasn't until 2014 that significant building work was undertaken on site. Some of these delays were due to financial reasons, as a decline in property values mean that the new stadium was more dependent on state funding.[5] Planning permission was extended for a further five-year period.[citation needed]

Following Finn Harps 2017 AGM in May 2017,[9] Finn Harps announced that following a stall in progress, revised plans would be launched in summer 2017, co-ordinated by former Chief Executive of North West Tourism Paul McLoone. The expected capacity of this updated proposal was projected to be between 5,500-6,000 with a seated capacity consisting of a main stand with 1,954 seats and another seated stand opposite that seating between 2,000-2,500, combined with terraced ends totaling an extra standing capacity of 1,500.[10]

At the start of July 2018, the Department of Sport announced a €304,000 grant towards the relaunch, redraw of plans, and fees towards the restart of the stadium build in Stranorlar.[11]

As of May 2020 the project, which had reputedly seen "virtually no work carried out" since 2014, was stalled pending a proposed investment of €6.7 million in state funding.[12] While this situation had not changed as of September 2020,[7] in April 2021 the government announced a "provisional allocation" of €3.99m for the development.[8]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "At long last Finn Harps have grounds for optimism beyond the pitch". Irish Examiner. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Permission granted for Harps stadium". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  3. ^ "Work to start on Harps stadium". One Stop News Stand. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
  4. ^ "Harps to turn sod on new stadium". Eleven-a-side.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Scanlon, Cronan (19 October 2012). "Lack of funding delays Harps stadium". Donegal News. North-West News Group. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  6. ^ "Funding crisis for Finn Harps' long-planned new stadium". irishnews.com. Irish News. 21 January 2020.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "Government urged to release funding for Finn Harps stadium". highlandradio.com. Highland Radio. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020. Work on the project has effectively been stalled since 2014
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Press Release - Provisional allocation of €3.991m for Finn Harps stadium". gov.ie. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  9. ^ "AGM 2017". finnharps.com.[dead link]
  10. ^ "Paul McLoone to co-ordinate new Harps stadium project". donegaldemocrat.ie. Donegal Democrat. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Finn Harps welcome funding for new stadium". rte.ie. RTÉ. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  12. ^ "New ground can kick-start bright, new era for Finn Harps". irishnews.com. Irish News. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.

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