Bertie Ahern ‘expects agreement’ in handball centre row

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has described talks between the GAA and the management committee of the Irish Handball Centre over a disputed redevelopment project as "positive and constructive".

Mr Ahern said he expects an agreement in the dispute between the two sides by the end of the summer.

Mr Ahern is acting as chief mediator in the ongoing row between the organisations, which began in 2003 due to the GAA's proposed redevelopment of the handball and community centre on St Joseph's Avenue in Drumcondra in Dublin's north inner city.

The handball centre has been located there since 1970.

Croke Park lodged a planning application with Dublin City Council to demolish and replace the existing three-storey handball sports facility and other works in 2010. However, that application was declared invalid.

Mr Ahern told The Irish Times that, after “seven months of detailed work”, he expected an agreement to be finalised in the coming weeks.

“There have been direct negotiations for the last seven months and two months of background work before that.

“I’m aiming that when people come back from holidays we’ll have a document.”

Mr Ahern accepted the role as mediator after both sides in the dispute approached him to secure an agreement over the future of the handball centre.

Mediation process

Chairman of the local Croke Park Streets Committee Eamonn O'Brien said last month that the talks were considering all available options, but that the mediation process remained confidential.

“It’s been a very long-running dispute, but we hope to come to a resolution that ensures the provision of the facility for the community but also for the handball association,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said the GAA needed to be respectful of the importance of the centre for both young and old people in the local area, following the recent spate of murders in the north inner city.

“It’s a key facility because it has a social aspect to it as well. It also provides for people with special needs and has been an extremely important community facility for the past 40 years.”