Trinity board meeting hears ‘robust debate’ over College Park proposals

A lengthy meeting of the Trinity College board on Wednesday heard several dissenting voices to the proposal to erect an interim exhibition pavilion on College Park connected with the Old Library redevelopment project.

Ahead of the meeting, three of Trinity’s largest and oldest sporting clubs – athletics, soccer and cricket – had already raised their objection over the proposal that named College Park as the preferred site to build the temporary two-storey pavilion while the Old Library undergoes a major refurbishment, beginning in early 2023, and now expected to cost €120 million.

According to the three clubs, this will effectively render College Park useless as a training and match facility, while also depriving the wider college community the sort of green space it increasingly craves. The Old Library refurbishment is expected to take between three to five years, which means it could be 2028 before the space is restored.

A college email sent to affected clubs last month said: “Based on early discussions Trinity has had with Dublin City Council, the location with the best opportunity to secure planning permission is College Park.”

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Students have four representatives on the 27-strong college board, three from the students' union, including their president, Leah Keogh, and one from the graduate students' union, their president Gisèle Scanlon, and all four made their dissent known.

Scanlon, a former member Dublin University Harriers and Athletics Club (DUHAC), is among those leading the campaign to get College Park off the list of potential sites, setting up an online petition to help express the views of students past and present, and told The Irish Times that campaign would continue for as long as necessary.

“There was robust debate, and large participation on this particular item,” she said. “Nearly every board member spoke on it, which is heartening. Everyone reiterated the importance of the Old Library redevelopment, that’s well understood, that funding has to be sourced to back it up, but the actual users of the space, the clubs and their captains, have to be stakeholders in any further feasibility study.

“What we did garner was there was no final decision taken with regard to College Park being the location for the interim exhibition, and there was no agreement to seek planning permission, and that the robust debate continues until it is resolved. We’ve also asked there is more consultation with the clubs with regard to their use of College Park.”

Last year, Dublin City Council granted planning permission for the refurbishment, and in May of this year the Government committed a €25 million grant; a further €20 million will come from philanthropic sources, the rest borrowed, with the temporary library exhibition intended to cover the major loss of income from the Old Library, renowned for the Book of Kells and the Long Room.

“Collectively, there was a kind of pushing away from College Park,” added Scanlon, “but there is still talk of feasibility around it and others, and previously unidentified sites. I also requested the college go back to Dublin City Council to say College Park may not be viable because of public outcry and public objection.

“Things have slowed down, but we have to keep the pressure on.”

The next Trinity College board meeting is scheduled for December 1st, the last of 2021.