Dalymount Park redevelopment expected to be approved by Dublin councillors on Monday

The long-awaited redevelopment of Dalymount Park football stadium in Phibsborough is expected to be approved by Dublin city councillors on Monday night.

The new stadium, expected to cost more than €40 million, will have a capacity of 8,034, with stands to the east and west side seating a combined 6,240 and terraces to the north and south providing for 1,794 standing spectators.

The existing stadium will be fully demolished, with the pitch to be reorientated from its east-west axis to north-south, to ensure better light and to prevent matches being affected by sunsets.

A community facility with an area of 585sq m (6,287sq ft) over two floors, including a multifunctional community room and a community gym, is to be built as well as a shop for the anchor tenants Bohemian FC, new club offices and a stadium bar/function room. A basement area will be created for changing rooms and facilities, and there will also be modern matchday facilities for teams and officials.

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The site will be opened to the public with a new pedestrian street running between North Circular Road and Connaught Street along the border of the stadium and the Phibsborough Shopping Centre. This will also link to a “plaza space” lit to ensure casual, passive surveillance and encourage “safe social interaction”, the council said.

Subject to Government funding, construction of the stadium is expected to take 20 months and be completed ahead of the 2027 League of Ireland season.

The council received 21 submissions in relation to the development, with some concerns raised about the impact on surrounding homes, including from new floodlighting.

In response, the council said while the floodlights had been altered from their current location as a result of the re-orientation of the pitch, the proposed lights would be slimmer and slightly lower.

“The existing floodlights are considered to be an iconic landmark within north Dublin and the proposal seeks to reference this in the current design,” the council said.

The council bought Dalymount from Bohemians for €3.8 million in 2015 and had hoped to redevelop the site in tandem with the neighbouring 1960s shopping centre.

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However, while a student accommodation scheme and a co-living complex both received planning permission on the shopping centre site, no development has taken place, the applications have lapsed and there is no current planning permission in place for the site.

In 2016, the council acquired the lease on Tolka Park in nearby Drumcondra, the home of Shelbourne football club, with the intention of selling the land to fund the redevelopment of Dalymount. The new Phibsborough stadium was to be shared by Bohemians and Shelbourne clubs.

A campaign group, Save Tolka Park, involving football fans and local residents, emerged seeking the retention of the Drumcondra ground as a sports facility. The council agreed in 2022 to abandon plans to rezone Tolka Park for housing and decided to redevelop Dalymount Park as a standalone project. Shelbourne hopes to buy Tolka Park from the council.

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