Permission granted for ATU Donegal sports complex and dome

Planning permission has been granted for a major sports complex in Letterkenny that will include an indoor dome.

Donegal County Council has paved the way for the development, which is being led by Atlantic Technological University (ATU) Donegal on a 42-acre site at Carnamuggagh Lower/Knocknamona.

Included in the ambitious project is the construction of an indoor dome with a height of 11.2m that planning documents say will be ‘suitable for various sports and activities’.

The planned dome is smaller in size than the Connacht GAA Air Dome in County Mayo, which rises to a height of 26m and is the largest sports air dome in the world.

The project will deliver facilities for GAA, soccer, athletics, cricket and basketball among others and also include recreational facilities.

The Letterkenny Regional Sports-Activity Hub has been in the works for several years and in December was allocated €422,739 in funding under the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund. This was in addition to a previous funding allocation of over €326,000, bringing the total to €749,000.

An artificial grass GAA pitch is to be included with line markings to enable the planing of rugby and two cross-play soccer pitches.

A sand-based grass GAA pitch will be development and will also be able to host rugby and two soccer pitches.

Two natural grass soccer pitches, which will house a cricket crease, will feature as part of a development that will include four synthetic five-a-side soccer pitches.

Outdoor sports and recreational areas will include a six-lane athletics sprint track, a 5m high hurling and handball wall, walking and running trails, a children’s play park and a community garden will be developed.

An aerial view of ATU Donegal in Letterkenny

A pavilion building will contain changing facilities, office and reception area, a self-catering facility and storage.

A range of associated works, including roads, footpaths, a cycleway, parking and pedestrian access will also be carried out.

Planning permission was sought last year and the local authority has granted the go-ahead, subject to 30 conditions.

No development is to take place until such times as a speed limit reduction from 80km/h to 60km/h on the N56 at the location concerned is approved and implemented.

The developer must liaise with road design and active travel in relation to revised details of access arrangements and site layout/site plans while changes to the road junction must be delivered and open to all road users at least six months in advance of the development.

The operating hours of the complex will be 8am-10pm unless otherwise agreed in writing with the planning authority.

Public access to facilities such as walking trails, gardens and parks will be provided in daylight hours with construction hours restricted to 8am-6pm from Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm on Saturdays and not at all on Sundays, Bank Holidays or Public Holidays.

Prior to commencement, the developer must provide adequate security to the Planning Authority for the provision and completion of all services in the sum of €150,000.

The news is a further boost to ATU Donegal, previously known as the Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LyIT) with university status conferred in 2022.

Michael Murphy, the former Donegal captain, is the current Head of Sport at ATU Donegal