Rugby ace Quinlan throws weight behind bid to save Ballykisteen

Great National Ballykisteen Golf Hotel near Limerick Junction in Co Tipperary

Former Munster and Ireland rugby star Alan Quinlan has thrown his weight behind a local campaign to save Tipperary gem Ballykisteen Golf Club from being sold as farmland.

The Tipperary native (46) is saddened that the course next to Limerick Junction has been put on the market by owners, the Great National Hotel Group, for an estimated €1.2 million.

It has emerged that the members have found people willing to back a purchase bid for the Des Smyth-designed course but say their efforts to engage with the owners have been in vain.

“It’s just sad,” said Quinlan, who is a club member. “Number one, there’s a number of jobs that are going to going to be gone and a lot of work and effort has gone in to make the golf course there and keep it viable over the years.

“I know the owners are quite entitled to sell it, but as members we want to explore other avenues and see if there's a possibility of them dealing with someone who's going to keep it as a golf course.

“The members were asked would they would they buy it but it wasn't something that was feasible for the members to do. But there are potential outside parties who were willing to buy it and lease it back to the golf club and it's just that that would be the preferred option for us. To lose the golf course just like that to farmland would be a devastating blow.”

“To lose the golf course just like that to farmland would be a devastating blow.”

— Alan Quinlan, former Ireland rugby international and Ballykisteen member

The hotel was acquired from receivership by the Great National Hotel Group on 2017, and while it will remain open, they put the 155-acre golf course on the market in September.

Locals were dismayed to learn the land would be sold as farmland and concerned members are asking why potential buyers, who want to retain the golf course, were not prioritised.

“The amount of people who lose out with this sale is massive,” said former Irish amateur international golfer Arthur Pierse, who lives nearby and still coaches up and coming stars at the club.

“Families who golf together, young people who are training to play at an international level, older members who use it as their pastime and the community that it has built. Even for the hotel, the loss of business because of golfers from around the world no longer staying.”

Quinlan insists it is the damage to the community that worries him.

“This isn’t about the golfers of the golf club because there are other clubs around,” he said. “But it would be a sad day because it is a social hub and a lot of old and young people use it.

“We understand the plight of the owners that financially golf clubs can be tricky to make money on and Covid has affected everything.

“But we would be confident that we could bring someone to the table who would keep it as a golf course. We'd also be asking for support from Tipperary County Council from the government. We haven’t a firm proposal but the the lack of contact and engagement from the owners in the last few weeks has been disappointing.

”It is frustrating because we're trying to unearth every opportunity, every practicality and every option available and there's so many people out there trying to put something together to bring to them and we can't even get a hearing.

“We know that there are people who are interested in keeping it as a golf course and that option is not being explored . There’s there seems to be a major push to sell this to this one particular farmer who wants to make it into farmland and that’s probably the biggest concern.

“We went to them a few weeks ago asking him would they would the sit down and talk about doing a lease for two years just to try and keep it alive but they didn't really entertain it at all.”

Ballykisteen has over 400 members in all categories and the club, which uses the hotel as its clubhouse, has reached out to local T.D.s, including Independent Mattie McGrath and launched an online petition to save the course.

In a joint statement, club captains Ann Quane and Mike Lynch said: “Members have been in contact every day and the Great National Hotel Group despite numerous requests for both information and cooperation, have had little to no communication with us.”

Efforts were made to contact the Great National Hotels Group by email and telephone yesterday but the company has yet to respond to a request for comment.