Battle is on to save Ballykisteen Golf Club from closure

A campaign to prevent the closure of Ballykisteen Golf Club outside Tipperary Town has started.
Over 400 members and community representatives are battling to save the course. They believe closure would seriously damage the local economy and have negative consequences for the social fabric of the community.
The future of the course is under threat as golf club members have been informed that the owners of the Great National Ballykisteen Hotel intend to continue running the hotel but are in the process of selling the adjoining golf course for farmland.
“We fear that this amenity is now going to be lost. The golf club is the heartbeat of the community,” said golf club member, Jill Pierse.
“We understand the deal to sell the golf course for farmland is about to be finalised. As a club we tried to lease it from the company to allow it continue as a golf course but they did not entertain that proposal,” said Jill.
“It does not make any sense to sell this golf course for farmland. The golf course contributes greatly to the footfall in the hotel which the company is going to continue to operate,” she said.
“We have not yet been told when golfing activity will stop. Our membership continues until March so technically you would think that they could not stop golf before then,” she added.
Jill said the members had made repeated attempts to meet with the hotel owners but their requests for a meeting had received no response.
A petition organised to attract support for the campaign to keep the Ballykisteen course open has already been signed by over 1,300 people.
Ballykisteen Golf 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.”
Tipperary golfer Arthur Pierse said that the amount of people that would lose out with this sale was massive. “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,” would all lose out he said.
Spokesperson for the locals and retired Irish rugby player, Alan Quinlan, said: “In the wake of Covid, the loss of so many jobs and business to the locality could cripple the local Tipperary community for many years. We aren’t asking for them to not sell but to sell to the right buyer to save businesses, a vital community amenity and the future for the hotel itself,” he said.
Jill Pierse said that members of Ballykisteen Golf Club in Tipperary were outraged over the proposed sale of the local golf course which has brought many tourists and money into the local economy.
She said that locals were informed that the land would be sold and converted into farmland.
“Many concerned members are asking why potential buyers who wanted to keep the land as a golf course were not entertained and that converting the land was prioritised.
“The course has brought a lot of business for the locality with pro-amateur charity fundraisers and special Olympic events occurring often over the years. Members of the area were distraught over the news and lack of consideration for people who rely on the course to make a living,” she said.
A statement by the campaign stated that Enterprise Ireland, a national organisation focused on supporting “sustainable economic growth, regional development and secure employment”, provided funding in 2017 to the Great National Hotel Group.
The statement added: “This funding, as with all EI investments, was provided on the condition that local jobs be created and sustained within localities in which they operate.
“The original development of course in 1991 was aided by a European grant to the value of 750,000 punts. We have reached out to the Local Enterprise Office in Tipperary to comment and have not yet received a response.
“Over 30 jobs are expected to be lost and affected by the sale.”
“All these jobs can be saved by the hotel group selling to another buyer who plans to not convert the land. The hotel and golf resort is part of Great National Hotel Group.
“While the group is keeping the hotel, they are selling the 18 hole golf course solely which the current buyer plans to convert.
“The course provides a vital facility for all members of the locality, facilitating weekly senior meet-ups, training for young people at a competitive level and is the only facility in the area that brings young and old together in the community,” concluded the statement.