When will Ireland get a cricket stadium?

Updates on the timeline for development projects at Abbotstown, Stormont and Malahide

A view of Cricket Ireland’s plans for a stadium at Abbotstown. The first phase in the project, set to be completed 2028, will feature a 4,000 seater venue.

This is Irish cricket’s existential question. For all its problems - and there are plenty - one substantial solutions comes closest to the status of cure-all.

Without a stadium, a permanent place for the hosting of high level fixtures, Irish cricket will never be a financially sustainable enterprise.

If the costs of temporary infrastructure did not exist, Ireland would not have cancelled the visit of Australia last year. The ‘home’ series against Bangladesh in 2023 would not have been played in Chelmsford. A women’s series against the Netherlands, set for last summer, would have taken place irrespective of Ireland failing to receive an ICC bonus after failing to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Trickle down economics would actually work. Less money spent on doing up Malahide would guarantee more Wolves and U19 fixtures, potentially even an elusive women’s A team. The club fund, this year a relatively small amount used to support grassroots projects, would increase.

Concerns abound for the future levels of ICC funding coming to Ireland, should the post 2027 value of global TV rights diminish, rendering the timing of any developments al the more pertinent. There are equally plenty of legitimate questions on the history of Cricket Ireland’s expenditure, but even if they have been as efficient as possible in recent years, the stadium issue would loom largest.

There have been a number of substantial developments in the last 12 months regarding permanent international playing facilities at three different locations. Government approval, planning applications and funding requests have all hit the headlines. What do these mean, though, for concrete timelines?

When will Ireland finally get a stadium?

Abbotstown

Cricket Ireland’s holy grail, this has long been the project which CEO Warren Deutrom has made his priority. It has arguably become the defining issue of his near 19-year tenure in charge of the sport on this island.

Sport Ireland, the government-funded body responsible for public money available to sporting bodies, has a campus in North Dublin - Abbotstown. Here, numerous training facilities can be found. The nation’s rugby and football players have infrastructure here. The oldest, and most famous facility on the campus is the National Aquatic Centre.

Because Sport Ireland takes financial responsibility for the campus, Cricket Ireland has based its facilities here. A high performance centre, featuring nets and a fielding area, can be found at the back of the campus behind the FAI offices. After trying for close to 10 years, CI have successfully lobbied the government and Sport Ireland to add a stadium to the existing facilities.

Last summer, it was announced that phase one of the Abbotstown project had been given the green light. According to the government, this includes “the delivery of a main cricket oval, seating for 4000 spectators, a high performance centre and some ancillary facilities.” All by 2028.

At various initial stages, plans included a media centre, a nursery ground and 8,000 permanent seats with the ability to expand to 20,000. That resembles the image at the top of this article which was released by CI. Abbotstown will not look like this in its first iteration, with CI hoping that the government will agree to fund the later phases required to match these plans.

The planned timeline works well for Ireland’s hosting duties at the 2030 T20 World Cup. However, the square, the site of the grass pitches, needs a number of years to bed in. While 4,000 seats, an indoor training centre and offices for high performance staff might all be ready by the 2028 season, when will a competitive game of cricket actually take place?

“Best case scenario, we’re playing cricket there summer of 2029 and that’s what we’re pushing Sport Ireland and the design team towards,” says Richard Fahey, Cricket Ireland’s head of facilities.

The ideal timeline for a grass square to bed in is three years. “But you can get it done in two,” says Fahey.

Contrary to what the government said late last year to this publication, the square cannot be laid before construction starts on the stadium itself in order to speed up the timeline. “That was initially mooted, having the square as an island but that won’t work from a construction point of view,” says Fahey.

“They [Sport Ireland] want to have a planning application in the first quarter of 2025 [in the next two months] and they’re on track with it. The aim is to get seeded by the third quarter of 2026, that gives us three years until the summer of 2029, a year before the World Cup.”

We all know that construction projects are rarely on time. What if there are delays? Best laid plans and all that.

“If they miss that window, we would have to make sure that there is sufficient expertise brought to bear to ensure the grow-in period for the first two years is at the optimum level,” says Fahey. Given the last men’s World Cup saw a debacle with a drop-in pitch in New York, the ICC will be keen to avoid more issues with pitches and major events. “We talk to the ICC around, as we need them,” says Fahey. “We’re keeping them informed but at arms length. We’ll be transparent to them.”

Best case scenario, all is well for the World Cup. Especially since, when it was announced that Ireland would be a 2030 host, the noise in the background suggested that the ICC expected a permanent ground, not temporary facilities, to be used.

What, then, will stop Cricket Ireland from achieving this?

The first is unforeseen delays. The building of the high performance centre which is already in Abbotstown was difficult, to say the least. The nets which were laid there had to be dug up and relaid. Irish batters were hit due to the dangerous surfaces. From concept to delivery of a safe facility, the whole thing took substantially longer than anticipated. How will that be avoided with a much larger, and therefore more complicated, project?

“I wasn’t around when the HPC [high performance centre] was done,” says Fahey, who joined the organisation in 2022.

“You’re dealing with different times, different people, it’s also Sport Ireland’s gig. Sport Ireland have a design team with world renowned architects, engineers… Cricket Ireland wouldn’t have had access to that sort of stuff when doing the HPC initially.”

“Generally, there is more international experience being brought to bear around the whole campus development,” says Brian MacNeice, Cricket Ireland’s chairman. “They’re [Sport Ireland] doing the velodrome as well, bringing in international experts there, it’s a different scale of project in comparison to what would have been in place.”

Transport and alcohol licensing are two other issues frequently brought up by fans when discussing Abbotstown. Compared to Malahide, which is a leisurely jaunt from both the Dart line and Gibney’s pub, a new CI stadium does not appear to bring significant perks for fans. The main selling point is that the government will pay for most of it, rather than location.

Cricket Ireland are confident that the relevant licensing, currently missing from the Sport Ireland campus, can be secured to sell alcohol at future cricket matches. The government has also stated its aim to improve public transport links to Abbotstown. The Irish state, though, does not have a track record of delivering transport projects in a timely manner. Akin to what happened on Long Island during last year’s World Cup, there will have to be some sort of shuttle bus service to cater to fans attending matches at Abbotstown in 2030.

What about the Benjamins? Who is paying for this and how much will it cost? CI’s position is that it will be mostly funded by the government. Despite the requirement for taxpayer money, no one involved, neither the government nor CI, is willing to offer a figure for the phase one development. It remains to be seen how much of a contribution CI will be asked to make, or indeed if they will have to pay rent once the facility is up and running.

Sources on the government side of these discussions had previously stated their incredulity that Cricket Ireland anticipated either paying limited amounts towards the project or avoiding rent. Those discussions were last year, meaning they are likely to have evolved significantly since then.

CI does make an argument that there are aspects of the stadium development which serve the campus as a whole, rather than just cricket. Should CI have to foot the bill for those? “[There is'] infrastructure to support the number of people that are going to be coming into the campus, new roads, new entrances, it’s not just for the cricket stadium,” explains Fahey.

In some way, CI will have to contribute financially. How this will be possible, given last year was the first year since 2018 when the organisation turned a profit (excluding 2020, when no international cricket was hosted and significant Covid grants were handed out by the government), is a valid question. From last year, greater levels of ICC funding has led to increased expenditure: a home Test last summer, an upcoming Wolves tour in Dubai this April, recent men’s training camps in Spain and Dubai.

Yet there are still significant gaps. It looks all but certain that there won’t be a home Test in 2025, for instance. How can CI get from that to spending millions (the total cost of Abbotstown is expected to come close to €100 million) on a stadium?

MacNeice points out that the ICC funding cycle is backloaded. The closer we get to 2027, the more money CI gets. Fahey points out that opening up a line of credit is another possibility. CI has previously taken a loan from the ICC, with a debt of $5 million plus interest currently being repaid.

“It’s not like the Apple balloon bonanza [the tech company recently paid a $13 billion tax bill to the Irish government] but we’ve earmarked certain elements of the ICC funding for infrastructure projects,” says MacNeice. “[We’re] thinking of other mechanisms through which we can raise money for capital projects, there’s work ongoing in relation to that.

“Operational funding is different to capital funding.”

All going well, then, without hiccup or delay, the Abbotstown square will be laid in 2026, with cricket being played in 2029. The phase one development has been costed but the total expenditure, along with CI’s contribution, is a closely guarded secret for now.

Stormont

The new pavilion at Stormont will feature a number of seats for punters.

If Abbotstown will happen largely because of CI’s lobbying efforts, Stormont is interesting in the comparative lack of involvement from the governing body.

Stormont, where Ireland’s lone home Test of 2024 was played, sits on a multi-sport complex in Belfast. The Norther Ireland Civil Service Sports Association (NICSSA), owner of the site, has designed a significant development project. Cricket, rugby, football, GAA and even archery are included in the long list of sports which will benefit.

The current ground at Stormont (middle) is set to be augmented by an upgraded pavilion. Another cricket oval (top right) is also included in the plans.

In terms of cricket, a new clubhouse featuring seats for patrons at the front (in a similar style to Lord’s) will be built. What is currently one cricket ground will turn into two. The current plans do not include floodlights, but those involved in the design are confident that these can be added at a later date.

In theory, Stormont is substantially ahead of Abbotstown in that planning permission has been secured and the whole project has been costed at £25 million. All that remains is to find the money.

That has proven to be a difficult task. Back in November, NICSSA announced that their application to a Peace Plus funding programme was unsuccessful. While all the paperwork is in order, nothing can be done until who pays what is figured out.

CI have been asked to make a contribution. This is believed to be a seven figure range lower than £5 million, but CI declined to comment on how much they might pay. There were plans in December for CI to meet with NICSSA to discuss next steps in regard to securing funding.

Malahide

A view of the planned new clubhouse at Malahide Cricket Club.

In many ways, given the popularity of what many see as Irish cricket’s spiritual home, this is arguably the development project which generates the most public interest amongst the cricketing population.

Malahide Cricket Club, the owners of the ground, have applied to Fingal County Council for planning permission to redevelop their clubhouse. This work will bring the building up to ICC requirements in terms of changing rooms and other facilities, meaning that expensive pre-fabs will no longer need to be brought in for international matches. They have already secured a government grant in the region of €350,000 for various upgrades around the club.

This project is significantly behind both Stormont and Abbotstown. Planning permission was not denied, but the council wrote back to Malahide saying that, “Given the lack of sufficient information submitted, a refusal could be warranted on site, however given that this is an existing facility the applicant will be afforded the opportunity to submit additional information in this regard.”

The additional information includes a justification for why this clubhouse is needed if Abbotstown is being built. CI has written to the council outlining their requirement for more than one facility.

There are various other issues. The council wants more information on tree preservation (councils love trees). They also take issue with the “mass, scale and monolithic design of the proposed clubhouse.” Malahide had six months from August to write back to the council. No documents outlining this have yet appeared on the Fingal website.

Reading the prospect of rejection on the spot appears to not bode well for hopes of a somewhat imminent development of Malahide. Fahey and CI, though, do not share these concerns. “If they were going to reject it, they would have rejected it,” he says. “There’s a pre-existing facility which is the clubhouse, so they want us to justify the reason behind [developing] it.

“If I’m building a house, they say ‘No, this is the footprint, these are the materials we want you to use as part of your planning,’ well then you amend your designs. The club and ourselves are working our way through with the authorities and consultants. I’m not concerned. The reality is, if it gets rejected it gets rejected, we start again. It happens everyday.”

Akin to Stormont, CI has been asked to make a contribution to Malahide in the millions, but with no planning permission, the project is not particularly close to being costed yet.

Which will be first?

This is quite literally the million euro question. Stormont appears closest with planning permission secured, but their funding seems a bit more perilous than Abbotstown, given the Dublin project will receive significant government finances.

All told, Abbotstown and Stormont are both expected to be ready in time for the 2030 World Cup. To keep everyone in the parish happy, CI is keen to play matches both north and south of the border. Again, nothing has been disclosed publicly yet, but they believe they will be given a “significant” allocation of games. New training facilities at Bready are also expected to be completed on time for participating teams to use, though matches won’t be held in the north west. Malahide is unlikely to be ready for that World Cup.

All going to plan, Ireland will have at least one, if not two venues ready for international use at any stage from 2028-2030. Should somewhat inevitable construction hiccups occur, the wait will go on.

It will be a significantly better look for CI if a permanent facility is used for a World Cup, rather than Malahide-style prefabs. Given that potential reputational boon, rest assured they will do all in its power to have one, or both, of Stormont or Abbotstown ready for 2030. It isn’t up to CI necessarily, though, given they are at the mercy of the Irish government and the Northern Ireland Civil Service Sports Association.

The plans are there. Watch this space.