By Cianna McNally

Monaghan Town Council is to consider granting a lease of Belgium Park in the town to a local soccer club.

A delegation from Monaghan Town Football Club made a presentation to the town council at the June monthly meeting of the town council on Monday, 21 June. They are hoping to secure the lease to allow their club to grow in size and success. The Senior Team was formed in 2006 while the Monaghan Town FC Youths was established in 2009. The club currently provides football for 115 adults, youths and children and also has a non-playing membership of 83.

Paul Smyth told the councillors that if permission was given for the lease the club could apply for grants that would allow them to develop their facilities further. Monaghan Town FC’s objectives include starting a ladies/girls football team under the club’s banner and to continue to grow its intercultural links within the community by offering football opportunities to foreign nationals.

The lease would allow the club to implement a phased development plan that the officials believe would benefit the whole community. Planned works would include refurbishing and extending the current changing rooms, improving the playing field with a focus on drainage so it would be available 12 months of the year, add floodlighting so the pitch could be used in the winter months and the development of a spectator area as there is none currently available. All work would be subject to planning permission and successful grant applications.

Monaghan Town FC aim to fund the development works by fundraising within the club and grants including from the FAI which will be supported as Cavan and Monaghan are considered disadvantaged areas in terms of soccer facilities. However, a minimum of a 30-year lease is required for genuine grant applications. Seamus Gallagher informed the council members that if the lease was secured the facility would not be for the sole use of the club which he described as being inclusive, not exclusive. Other groups will be welcome to use it, provided it is available.

Town Manager Declan Nelson said that although he believed what the club had outlined was positive, some form of a public consultation would need to take place to allow residents living in the Belgium Park area to express their feelings on the proposed development. Councillor David Maxwell proposed that the lease request would be passed on to the planning sub-committee to deal with and the members of the town council unanimously agreed to do so.