One of Cork's premier rugby clubs is to sell its 12-acre site after receiving a multimillion euro offer from a developer. Olivia Kelleherreports.
At a special general meeting of Cork Constitution club members on Thursday night, more than 90 per cent of members voted in favour of the sale of their ground at Temple Hill, Ballintemple, and the subsequent acquisition of a 38-acre site at Ballyorban, Douglas. The Douglas site is about 5km (three miles) from Temple Hill and will provide some six full-size pitches and a new clubhouse.
Cork Constitution president Colm Murphy yesterday confirmed the decision to proceed with the sale of its Temple Hill site, but said the move to Ballyorban was unlikely to take place for some time.
"It could take a few years yet. Our members decided to move because we are pretty short of space down here. We have a huge underage membership and on Saturdays we can have upwards of 400 kids here."
Cork Constitution is named after a daily newspaper that was published in the city at the time of the club's founding in 1892. The club has been at Ballintemple for more than 50 years.
Negotiations are taking place for the sale of the Ballintemple site to a local developer for an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the region of €30 million. A number of other developers are also interested in the site.
The move comes just days after Douglas Golf Club in Maryborough, Douglas, was offered in the region of €180 million to relocate to a site at Carr's Hill near Carrigaline.
The offer from Mallow-based Castlelands Construction involves a new €120 million 36-hole golf facility designed by Robert Trent Jones III with a clubhouse and golf academy.
Members will decide on whether to accept the offer at a meeting next month.