Here you see a satellite view of the general area surrounding SRFC Clubhouse down to the roundabout on the western side of the town. The area you see to the right bounded in 'yellow' represents lands SRFC have just recently leased from Cork County Council – the terms being 35years at €200—per year. Those of you familiar with the grounds will be well aware hat we have had the use of these lands since we first 'moved in' back in the early 1980's, however, technically we might be considered 'squatters, as we didn't officially have a lease in place from the start - an oversight. That said we were always a very "law-abiding" group of people and didn't ever raise the 'ire' of the Council by doing anything out of the way, other than play the game of rugby– and so everything ran smoothly.

When in 2006, we decided to renovate the old Clubhouse and apply for Sports funding, we had to do some research to establish if in fact we were eligible to apply for a SportsGrant – because it is written in stone, that any development – for which a Sports grant is sought - must be on land owned or leased (and a long Lease) by the applicant. Well, we eventually got over that hump when we confirmed  we did own enough land - outlined in red above - to cover the proposed development at the time, so everything went ahead as planned - we secured the Grant, and the renovated Clubhouse was finally completed in 2007 -  resulting in the much admired building  we have today.

Fast forward to 2019, and it became clear that such was the increase in new members – especially at Underage level – boys and girls, that we needed additional dressing rooms facilities, so with a plan in mind, it was decided to put pen to paper and seek funding for the new development. As luck would have it, this development was also on land we owned, so no problem this time on that front. While the funding received was very welcome there was still a substantial amount to be raised, but with everyone – well a good amount – giving a little, and others a little more, we did manage to raise the balance of approximately €50K to finish that project too., and it blends in very well with the original structure - almost as if it grew there - as someone remarked.

Now, it's not that we were blessed with foresight in reaching a decision about where the dressing rooms and showers would go,because it more or less picked its own spot. While the chief concern was to provide the best  changing facilities possible for the underage on those cold wintery days, when that requirement was achieved we noticed that we could incorporate a very sizable balcony area on the roof of the development – and incorporate it rather easily to link with the Bar and Function room on the first floor. So, it was like a bonus development – a 2 for the price of 1 project. The additional costing for galvanised railing and safety requirements to comply with regulations was well worth the spend, and now there is now a spectacular viewing area  to sit andr elax with friends and enjoy a drink and a chat, or watch whatever match being played on the pitch below. It is envisaged that we could start a Tag Rugby League n the Summer time too, which in itself is a great social  and sporting event enjoyed by all – so the potential for the use of the balcony area to compliment the Bar and Lounge facilities, is great indeed – now if we could only say goodbye to Covid-19 -, we could breathe easily again, and a hopeful return to some kind of normality.

And so, we are in March 2021, and the wind of change is forever blowing, as they say. One project that has been put on the long finger for some time has slowly worked its way back into contention and that is Match Lighting – or indeed some kind of suitable lighting for teams to train under. Our present system is there for a long time, and apart from being old, is inefficient and expensive to maintain. Vast areas of the pitch are left unusable with the lights on – for obvious reasons,and the one thing agreed by all is the need for an upgrade of some significance.

Management has teased this lighting problem out for years and have taken onboard the observations of Coaches and players and Committee members generally, on the best way forward, and the consensus for change was overwhelming, and was more a question of when rather than if. Now with so much down time this past year because of Covid, and the realisation that another round of Sports Grants was coming down the tracks, a decision was reached back in November, to 'have a go' and so a project team was put together and investigations associated with MatchQuality Floodlighting was carried out,and finally an application was submitted before closing date of March 1st for funding to allow us realise the goal. It would be great to think it all happened as simply as I just wrote that last sentence, but that would be far from the truth, because the whole process is painstakingly slow.                                                                                                                                   

Which brings me back to an earlier point  of owning or having a long lease on the property where a development is to take place. This time out we did not own or have a lease  - but in fact negotiations had been ongoing for over 2 years – and while initial soundings were very promising, there were loads of problems with Engineers reports,Legal, Mapping as well as hundreds of emails tooing and froing – and right up until quite recently we were unsure if we would have everything in place to apply for funding. But in the end all the pieces did come together – really because of the goodwill of all the stakeholders – and the application was finally uploaded.

So now everything is in the lap of the God's, as they say, and it's fingers crossed and hope for the best, because getting funding really is a lottery. That said we do need proper lights and the cost of 'upgrading' our  ancient system, would cost a lot, and would still be suitable for training only. That said, it doesn't mean the old system is for the scrap heap – not by a long shot – we will renew, replace and repair and re-site in either the other the Marsh pitch – in red above – or possibly the showground pitch – from whence they actually came– all to be decided very shortly.