A GAA club and rugby club in South Dublin are in dispute over the sale of highly sought after land, currently owned by the Catholic church.
The Foxrock Parish field - a five-acre site in Cornelscourt - was set to be sold by the Church to Geraldines P Moran’s GAA club for €1 million, the Irish Times reports.
The land, if zoned for housing, has been valued around €10 million.
The GAA club has been using the field since the 1950s, but the community facility had also been used by St Brigid’s RFC since the 1980s for its minis rugby programme.
While the church insists community use will be protected in the terms of the sale, the rugby club has now objected, claiming a 'land grab' by the GAA, which would mean the GAA would control rugby access to the field.
St Brigid’s RFC secretary Morgan Cassidy told the Irish Times: “Even though they say everything is staying the same they can decide at any point they don’t want us there. We are quite uncomfortable with that.
"The agreement says 80% of our members have to be a student of St Brigid’s boys national school. That’s discriminatory, and it’s a clear effort at stopping us expanding or growing in any way, shape or form. It’s an open naked attempt at controlling our club.”
St Brigid's has sent legal correspondence to the church in an attempt to stop the sale, but the Church has hit back in a letter to parishioners, accusing the club of "undermining the sale of Foxrock Parish Field” via a media PR campaign.
It said: "The Rugby Club have alleged in their press statements, interviews, social media posts and current online petition that their current and future usage of the Foxrock Parish Field is under threat, and, as a result, that the future of their club is at risk. This is at variance with the facts and the evidence which have been shared both verbally and in writing with the Rugby Club."
Ger Moffatt, chairman of the GAA club, told the Times the club was willing to work with the rugby club to find a solution.
"We are protecting their access. The type of things we’ve heard mentioned are all things that can be addressed. Once they document the issues of course we are happy to sit down and work out a solution with them.”