‘If we’ve nowhere to go then the club can’t survive’, says basketball coach

Dave Lawrence, a coach with one of the Dublin Sonics Basketball Club teams, is trying his best to find a solution before the basketball season starts in August.

Clubs in the area who use Tyrrelstown Community Centre have been told by the Department of Education it will be closed on July 1 for repairs, which will take six months to complete.

However, Mr Lawrence said the lack of resources in the area means that if they can’t find somewhere to go, the club can’t survive.

The Dublin Sonics will be joined by other groups for a rally outside Tyrrelstown Community Centre at 1pm this Saturday.

“This decision is impacting people who are giving their heart to the community, giving their time to the club and supporting the community,” Mr Lawrence told the Irish Independent.

“We’re not being given any options to go anywhere else. I’ve had parents say that their little ones, little eight-year-olds, it’s the first sport they’ve loved, [asking] why is this happening and getting upset.

“The kids absolutely love it. We all know about social problems and behavioural issues. I pride myself that none of the kids in this club have been involved in any of that.

“All the kids come down, our goal is to send them home with a red face, a big smile and laughing. But we don’t have another hall, there’s nowhere for us to go yet.

“I’m losing sleep over it as well, thinking about these kids relying on us providing an outlet, but it’s beyond our control.

“We’ve been trying to get into a local secondary school but we’re four weeks away from the closure of the hall and we don’t know yet.

“If we get it, it’ll be great news, but due to the lack of resources in the area, if it doesn’t happen we’ve nowhere to go and the club can’t survive.

“We’re a volunteer club, all the money we get from registrations, that covers the cost of the hall, the leagues and general running of the club.

“On top of it, we’re being told to move our equipment out of the hall and we’ve nowhere to put it. We have to apply pressure to get someone listening. Come August, when our season starts again, we could be in trouble.”

Councillor John Burtchaell is worried that the six-month timeline could be liable to extend, with the construction work taking longer than expected.

“When the Department of Education announced the centre closure on May 16, they had no contingency plans, or at least none they communicated to the clubs and staff.

“I called for alternative facilities to be made available, but the Department of Education just went ahead to announce the closure, giving the clubs just six weeks’ notice to vacate.

“Some progress has been made, but the clubs still need specific commitments on exactly what alternative facilities they will be offered locally and when.

“How many hours will they be guaranteed there, the rates they will be charged, equipment storage arrangements, and insurance?

“The clubs and groups have called a community rally on Saturday to maintain political pressure on the Department of Education and Fingal to ensure they properly accommodate all of the clubs in local facilities.”

Councillor Steve O’Reilly says the remedial works are taking place to bring the building up to sufficient standard.

“The works are to last six months. This is to ensure that the building is up to sufficient standard for the long-term operation of the centre for the community,” he said.

“A member of the community centre contacted me in March with concerns. I raised a question on March 7 with Fingal to see how these works would affect the operations on site, along with the clubs and businesses who use the centre.

“Since then, the board of Tyrrelstown Community centre, whom I should highlight are local volunteers, have worked tirelessly to ensure businesses and clubs are accommodated in other facilities.”

Fingal County Council said the closure will occur from July to facilitate the works being undertaken safely.

“The Department of Education and Skills, as the building owner, is responsible for all aspects of the work including procuring the contractor, project oversight, phasing of work and timing etc,” a spokesperson said.

“The community centre management are also liaising with other local community centres to see if groups can be accommodated from July to December.

“As with previous community centre temporary closures, staff in the Community Development Office are fully aware of the various groups who will be impacted and are working diligently to assist in seeking solutions.

“We are relying on the co-operation, understanding and support of all stakeholders during this temporary closure to facilitate the undertaking of these essential works.”