Munster granted planning permission for indoor training facility in Cork

MUNSTER HOPE WORK on a new indoor training facility at Musgrave Park will commence by the end of this year after the province today received planning permission from Cork City Council.

The new facility will be located at the Pearse Road end of Musgrave Park and will be built primarily for Munster’s underage sides, in addition to local schools and clubs. 

Musgrave Park in Cork. Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

While the cost of the project has not been outlined by the province, the facility will house a synthetic all-weather playing surface, a gym, dressing rooms, treatment rooms, a kitchen and public toilets.

The plans show the indoor pitch will be 60×40 metres in size, while a new single-storey ticketing booth and increased parking for both cars and buses are planned for the Cork venue.    

Munster, whose senior team are based at their high-performance centre at the University of Limerick, have made an application to the large-scale sports infrastructure fund for the project, and say construction will commence by the end of 2019 or early 2020.

“We want a high-quality hub for provincial rugby and a superb facility for our surrounding community and that’s exactly what we’re going to bring for the region,” Munster’s acting CEO, Philip Quinn, said. 

“We want to engage with our local community and our 3G pitch has hosted all sorts of events in a number of different sports, not just rugby, since it opened last year.

“Long-term, we see Musgrave Park as being a municipal stadium, open to all. Rugby will always be number one here but let’s engage, let’s get people in here to what is a fantastic sporting facility.”

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!