Connacht Rugby gets final approval for €30 million Sportsground development

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Briain Kelly
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Galway Daily sports Construction of massive Sportsground redevelopment to begin in 2023

The €30 million redevelopment of Connacht Rugby’s Sportsground is now “shovel ready” with final planning permission secured it was announced today.

Connacht Rugby has secured €10 million in private funding for the Sportsground project through a mixture of its own funds and an approved bank credit facility.

Now, getting work started on the project is dependent on securing some €20 million in government funding for the balance of the costs.

Galway city council made the stadium redevelopment their priority choice when putting four projects forward for funding from the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund in March.

The announcement of full approval was made today as An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the Sportsground as part of a trip to Galway on the campaign trail.

During his visit, Taoiseach Varadkar was introduced to the professional playing squad who were hosting a community visit for 200 children from Scoil Chaitríona NS, Renmore.

He was also briefed in detail on the progress of the Sportsground redevelopment which involves licence agreements with Special Olympics Ireland and the Community Games for use of the upgraded facilities.

Welcoming the Taoiseach to the Sportsground this morning, Connacht Rugby CEO Willie Ruane “We are delighted to have An Taoiseach in the Sportsground to receive an update on our redevelopment project.”

“There has been huge momentum behind the project since we announced last October, and we now have the final granting of planning permission.”

The €30m project will include a full redevelopment of the stadium as well as a multi-use indoor High Performance Training Centre.

It’s expected that the project will deliver significant returns for Galway and the surrounding region, with an economic analysis by Dr Kevin Hannigan of KHSK Economic Consultants found that it would yield a net benefit of 53%.

Initial plans for this project came about as a result of an arrangement between Connacht Rugby, the Irish Greyhound Board and the freehold owners of the Sportsground, the Galway Agricultural and Sports Society.

“With 130 people employed throughout the province by Connacht Rugby we are extremely proud of the annual contribution of €34.4m we are making to the regional economy,” Willie Ruane said.

“We have €10m in private funding to bring to the table through a mixture of Connacht Rugby funds and an approved bank credit facility. The project is now shovel ready and the remaining €20m state investment is critical to its delivery”.

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