Proposals for a €10 million soccer academy near Donabate in north Co Dublin have been criticised by environmental group Coastwatch, which claims the site is too close to the internationally protected Rogerstown estuary.
Fingal County Council has proposed the soccer academy with an indoor soccer pitch, seating for 400 people, five changing rooms, meeting rooms and parking for 190 cars and 14 coaches. The total footprint is to be 8,170sq m (88,000sq ft).
But Coastwatch said the site at Turvey is too close to the estuary which is a recognised bird sanctuary designated under EU directives as a special protection area and a special conservation area.
The estuary is also a Ramsar (wetlands) site, a nature reserve and a wildlife sanctuary.
Coastwatch said it is also concerned that the council may be trying to attract an Irish Premier League team to use the facility, which it believed would require a significant extension to the number of seats.
According to the group, the area is an established "community wildlife park" and the development of a football academy on the site would be inappropriate.
"The football academy, which will be funded by the Sports Council, is a good facility, but locating it beside Rogerstown estuary is not a good idea," said Neil Dempsey, a director of Coastwatch.
Fingal County Council owns some 200 acres bordering the estuary at Turvey. A masterplan, Nature on Display, drawn up by the council in November 2006, proposed the development of a community wildlife park and walkways to promote environmental education initiatives.
Coastwatch said it feared that if the football academy was built, the masterplan would be scrapped. "It would be preferable to have the Turvey parklands turned into a proper community facility for Dubliners, while the football academy would be better located in large population areas with good transport, like Swords or Balbriggan," Mr Dempsey said.
Fingal council said a period of public consultation on the project was under way and would end next Wednesday.
A spokeswoman said the Nature on Display plan was drawn up before the possibility of funding for the football academy came about.
But she said the academy would take up just 11 of the 200 acres on the Turvey estate, and the proposed facility was badly needed for local children.
