Note to members re our club grounds

A chairde,

Every one of us knows what Páirc Mhic Suain De Barra means to this club and our community. It’s written into the boots we’ve cleaned in the car park, the damp evenings under the lights and the noise echoing off the concrete on matchday mornings. It’s where our kids took their first swing of a hurley, where lifelong friendships were forged in the mud and where we’ve celebrated our greatest victories and shared our hardest losses. You cannot simply package up decades of heart, sweat, and local history and move it up the road—and no one expects us to pretend otherwise.

Our history is of paramount importance to us but so is our responsibility to the future. The simple truth is that our club has outgrown what our current home at Páirc Mhic Suain De Barra can offer. Every week, hundreds of boys and girls put on our jersey with pride, but our existing community sporting facilities are no longer sufficient to meet the needs of our club or the growth ahead of us over the next 10 to 15 years. To give some context we currently have 83 teams, 1,500 playing members and an army of volunteers who give up their time to coach an ever-expanding demand. All of this is provided on two pitches and with the club being land-locked we must give serious consideration on limiting membership going forward. To give every child in our community a proper place to play and train, we need space to expand.

Every coach will have experienced the frustration of having a fraction of a pitch to train, cancellation of training due to Go-Games or official games taking place or indeed the traffic mayhem involved when two or sometimes three teams visit to play us on a given night. Éire Óg Greystones is currently in the highest bracket of clubs nationwide constrained by its facilities when compared to its playing membership.

That is why we are pursuing a full relocation to a state-of-the-art facility. As part of our submission on Variation 7 of the local planning framework, we are requesting that our entire 4.6-hectare site be rezoned for residential development. Currently, following Phase 1 of the process approximately 75% of our grounds have been rezoned. A full zoning allows us to unlock all the potential of our current site to help meet the town’s urgent housing needs near the town centre and DART line, while fully funding and delivering a new sporting facility that will more than double our existing footprint. Members should note that Phase 1 of this process does not mean a successful application, it is merely the first step in the process.

Our Proposed New Home

We have developed plans with a reputable developer who has both the land necessary in the Greystones environs and the capability to deliver a modern facility with four full sized floodlit pitches (one an artificial surface pitch), stand, walking track, and a new clubhouse with a hall, 6 dressing rooms, gym etc. This not only gives Éire Óg the space (approx. 40 acres) we desperately need, but it also opens broader benefits for the entire community.

By securing this new site, we can deliver:

More Than Double the Facilities: Transitioning from our constrained existing footprint to a significantly larger, fit-for-purpose site built to serve all codes and age groups for generations to come.

State-of-the-Art Sporting Infrastructure: 4 x purpose-built full size playing surfaces, modern accessible dressing rooms, fit for purpose indoor hall and energy-efficient floodlighting designed for safe, year-round use.

Supporting local access improvements: continued previously agreed support for pedestrian and cycle routes on our existing boundary.

Safe Parking & Access: Modern, dedicated car parking and spectator facilities to ease matchday traffic for families and visiting teams.

The most important point for now is that there will be no move anywhere until a turnkey facility as set out above is built to an agreed specification and ready to accommodate Gaelic Games. It is only at that point we would leave our existing home. As such the club is removed from the risk of developing the new facility and has no exposure to the loss of any asset until the project is completed and ready to hand over to us.

I have attached correspondence to Wicklow County Council requesting all of our existing lands be rezoned residential - submitted 8 October 2026.

We have been contacted for comment on rationale for seeking rezoning from various individuals, media and organisations over the past number of weeks. The Éire Óg Greystones Committee will issue updates on progress with Wicklow County Council to you, the members via this channel only. We will of course, should it become appropriate, convene an EGM of the club.

A club grounds is ultimately just grass and soil; it is the people who give a club its soul. We aren't leaving our tradition, our identity, or our spirit behind at Páirc Mhic Suain De Barra—we are bringing every bit of it with us as we chart this exciting next chapter. The history we built in our old home is what gives us the foundation to potentially build something extraordinary for our children and grandchildren if this opportunity materialises.

Thank you for your continued passion, patience, and support as we endeavour to build the future of Éire Óg together.

Is mise le meas

Larry Howard

Chairman

Éire Óg Greystones GAA, Camogie & Ladies Football Club

Correspondence to Wicklow County Council