Stamullen football club left homeless

An East Meath football club has found itself homeless after the arrangement it had to rent pitches from Gormanston Park ended recently.

Despite its best efforts to source an alternative site when it became clear that Gormanston Park would no longer accommodate the club, Stamullen FC, has been unable to secure an alternative grounds and now finds itself looking for a new home.

In a video, updating locals on the situation, club chairman Marcus Kelly said: “It brings me great sadness to inform the community that despite tremendous efforts by many, we are officially homeless. For many years now we have paid for the use of Gormanstown Park. And despite our long history with this entity, a commercial decision was made by GP that they require Stamullen FC to cease playing at their campus.

"From the moment we were told of our fate, the committee commenced engaging with developers, local farmers and elected representatives to find an alternative before this day was upon us.

"As a community, you know, the challenges we face with the lack of amenities for our children and teenagers. We are clearly a forgotten village that was pillaged by developers over the last 20 years, as many elected representatives stood by and watched. So you will not be surprised to learn that despite the best efforts, we were unable to secure a new home for our club.

"Please note that while we speak here of Stamullen FC, during all our conversations while looking for land, our thoughts were focused on the community looking for a common ground which would also include a playground scouts den, skatepark and pitches. As a community, we are one, evident in the array of players we have who would also avail of scouting facilities, playgrounds and skate parks in our area".

As a short term solution, Marcus told how they will be able to avail of the goodwill of Cloghertown United FC, located in Clonalvy, which is 12 minutes drive from Stamullen.

The club intends to hold a community meeting and invite local representatives to see what can be done to resolve the issue and find a permanent home for Stamullen Football Club. A date has yet to be confirmed for this meeting.

Meath East Sinn Fein TD Darren O'Rourke said it was "completely unacceptable" for a community and sporting group like Stamullen FC to find themselves in the situation they find themselves in, pointing out that they are all volunteers providing an outlet for young people of the area.

"They haven't been able to find suitable playing facilities and find themselves in a precarious situation every year and because of a lack of publicly owned land in the area, they now find themselves homeless.

“Every avenue has been pursued repeatedly and I'm strongly of the opinion that the local authority needs to play a leading role in finding a solution. I think the compulsory purchase of land of land for the provision of a municipal park for Stamullen in something that needs to be seriously considered."

Gormanston Park has been contacted for comment.