Council gives green light for €5m Clare GAA Centre of Excellence

Clare County Council has granted planning permission to €5 million plans by senior All-Ireland winning hurlers, Clare to expand and redevelop the county's GAA Centre of Excellence.

The planners have given the ambitious plans to unearth the next Tony Kelly or Shane O’Donnell the green light on condition that a range of measures are put in place to safeguard the Lesser Horseshoe Bat.

The project last November benefited from €3.2 million in state funding from the Government's Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund to develop the Centre of Excellence at Caherloghan near the east Clare village of Tulla.

The scheme for the county's elite hurlers and footballers - includes the construction of a 1-2 storey extension to the existing Clare GAA Centre of Excellence building accommodating additional player welfare facilities including new dressing rooms, a gymnasium, dining and administrative areas.

It also includes two new full length playing pitches, the construction of a new all-weather synthetic playing pitch, the construction of a new hurling 'ball-wall' and the construction of a new covered spectator stand serving Pitch 3.

The Council has attached the bat protection conditions as the Centre of Excellence expansion proposal lies close to Newgrove House which is a designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC) due to the presence of the Lesser Horseshoe Bat.

According to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Newgrove House SAC “is considered to be of international importance” due to the presence of the tiny bat.

The Lesser Horseshoe Bat is one of the world’s smallest bats, weighing only 5 to 9 grams with a wingspan of 194-254mm and a body length of 35 to 45 mm and is afforded legal protection through the EU