Save Tolka Park campaign welcomes significant breakthrough

Turning left onto Richmond Road in Drumcondra, the first thing that catches your eye is a large black and white billboard. Three words have been the talk of the area for months, “SAVE TOLKA PARK.”

Shelbourne have been tenants at Tolka Park since the 1950s. The club acquired a long-term lease of the ground in 1989.

In 2016, Dublin City Council purchased Tolka Park from Shelbourne and the club announced that they would be eventually moving to the redeveloped Dalymount Park to share with rivals Bohemians.

Dublin City Council intends to demolish Tolka Park and rezone the land to be sold to private developers, in line it is 2022-2028 development plan.

The Save Tolka Park campaign was created by a group of local supporters, activists, and residents. They are campaigning to prevent the demolition of the ground and instead, turn it into a brand-new stadium with community facilities such as a cafe, creche and gym, as Lee Daly of the Save Tolka Park steering group explains.

“The Save Tolka Park campaign came together in June 2020,” Daly says.

“A lot of us were very concerned about the loss of Tolka Park. We decided to partner with local residents and activists to bring the campaign together. We’ve been overwhelmed with the support.”

Tolka is steeped in football history. It was Ireland's first floodlit, all-seater stadium. Shels home game against Derry City in 1997 was the League of Ireland’s first ever live televised match, while the ground has also hosted FAI Cup finals, European ties, and male and female Ireland internationals. “Tolka park is irreplaceable,” the group says.

“As Eamonn Dunphy said, it's a sacred space for football,” Daly adds.

“It's really provided so much for Shelbourne Football Club, and in return, Shelburne Football Club has provided so much to it. There's a lot of history there.”



The campaign received a significant boost last month as over one thousand submissions were made to Dublin City Council calling for the ground to be saved, a development that Daly said was “crucial.”

“There's overwhelming support locally to keep the ground. We saw over 900 submissions from the locality, another few 100 from those beyond.”

“For us most crucially, over 100 submissions were made by those right on the road itself outside the ground. That was very key in helping to save Tolka.”

One major concern the group had was the exclusion of Shelbourne’s women’s sides from the new Dalymount Park. Tolka played host to the first live televised Women’s National League match last year, but DCC could not guarantee that the women’s side would have equal access to facilities at Dalymount.

After winning the Women’s National League last season, the prospect of unequal access at Dalymount threatens a step backwards in the growth of the women’s game.

“One thing that's causing a lot of the growth in grassroots and elite level football is the expansion of the women's game in Ireland,” Daly says.



“That’s been a fundamental game changer in our campaign. The fact that there was no guarantee that all senior teams could be accommodated at Dalymount was the most compelling and important reason for the ground to be saved.”

“We think women's football in this country has a fantastic future. The ground has already played a great role in developing football in this country. It will play an even greater role once it is saved.”

The Breakthrough

In February, after over 18 months of campaigning, news of a significant breakthrough came after Shelbourne submitted a proposal to purchase Tolka Park from DCC, with an intention to redevelop it.

Shelbourne also say that they have secured “significant new investment” from Closebreak Ltd, a consortium of business figures from Ireland and the USA. DCC says that they will examine the proposal and provide an update in due course

“The breakthrough seems to be very significant,” Daly says.

“We're very pleased that it's happened. It's very early days, but we are very clear on what we want to happen. We want to see Tolka become a multi-purpose stadium to benefit the community.

“Although we may be entering the final furlong, we still are very keen to see our principles respected in any final deal.”

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