A new golf course, costing between £6.5 million and £7 million, is to be constructed at the foothills of the Wicklow mountains, just six miles from the M50 at Firhouse.

The South County Golf Club, which is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2001, will offer an attractive option to many golfers who cannot get into existing clubs.

With the cost of the development including the clubhouse and the land, the club will be a members' club with each member owning shares which they can sell in compliance with a minimum number of restrictions. Members will elect their own committee and decide policy.