Rovers chair 'frustrated'

Shamrock Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche last night expressed his "frustration" over the High Court decision to allow Thomas Davis GAA club to challenge the decision to develop the stadium at Whitestown Way, near the Square shopping centre, for the playing of soccer only.

"We always knew that the case could go either way," said Roche, "but it's extremely frustrating that it's ended up with our campaign to get out to Tallaght being dealt another blow.

"It's a setback all right, but it seemed we were at death's door when the club was in examinership and everybody was writing us off. We came through that and we'll fight on now as well.

"But the fact is that it's disappointing that we're facing into another delay now that could put anything from six months to three years on to the process of getting the stadium built."

Roche insisted the court decision would not undermine the day-to-day operation of the club which, he says, have not factored into their medium-term plans playing first-team games in Tallaght.

"We haven't included it into our projections for the next three years or so, because we saw what happened when previous boards made the mistake of assuming they'd get there within a specific timeframe and then couldn't make it happen.

"We're already firmly rooted in the Tallaght community and we look forward to the day the first team joins the club's many other sides in playing in the area. In the meantime, we'll continue to work at moving Shamrock Rovers on every front."

Meanwhile, Shelbourne have confirmed they will not apply for a licence to compete in European competition this year, thereby clearing the way for Derry City to compete in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League.

The decision on the nomination of Ireland's representatives in the various Uefa competitions would not be taken until the relevant other clubs had had their applications for the required licences dealt with. That process is likely to take a matter of weeks.

Should all of the applicants succeed, St Patrick's Athletic, who have already benefited from Shelbourne's withdrawal from the Setanta Sports Cup, will enter the Uefa Cup rather than the Inter-Toto Cup, with Cork City set to be offered the chance to replace them in the latter competition.