THE heave to get soccer back into the Market’s Field is gathering momentum .
Once the home of Limerick soccer, the game has not been played in the Market’s Field since 1984, when Limerick FC left the historic grounds, which were sold on by Limerick City Council to Bord na gCon.
With Bord na gCon now relocated in a brand new stadium on the Dock Road, the Market’s Field will shortly become vacant and while interest in reviving it as a soccer venue is high on the agenda of a number of councillors (first mooted by Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon over a year ago), further steps have just been taken jointly by the Minister of State, Peter Power and Mayor Kevin Kiely to see the grounds once again a home to Limerick soccer.
The latest development was the recent presentation of a document to the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport.
“I was happy to arrange for a delegation, lead by Mayor Kiely to meet with the minister to discuss the possible relocation of Limerick soccer to the Market’s Field,” Minister Power told the Limerick Post.
“A lot of work has been taking place behind the scenes over the last number of months to consult with all the stakeholders to see if it is possible to bring soccer back to this historic venue and I want to compliment the leadership of the mayor who told Minister Hanafin that all of Limerick wants soccer back in the Market’s Field. I told Mary Hanafin that we are looking for her support to achieve this.”
Over the past months the minister and the mayor have been meeting with the residents of Garryowen, Limerick Regeneration, Pat O’Sullivan, the current owner of Limerick Football Club, city officials and the Limerick College of Further Education in Mulgrave Street, which backs on to the Markets Field.
Conceding that “it will require a huge effort from all of the various stakeholders to get the project across the line,” the mayor and minister, in a joint statement say:
“We are under no illusions about the obstacles which need to be overcome to get soccer back to the Markets Field but we are determined to push ahead nonetheless.
“A lot of work has been carried out with the residents of Garryowen to ensure that local people’s groups are fully on board and are fully part of the whole process of relocating soccer back to the grounds.
“We’ve put certain proposals to Minister Hanafin and have asked her to consider them in the interest of every
