Turf Club delighted with ruling

Work on the proposed new €100 million Curragh racecourse redevelopment could finally be about to begin after a vital High Court victory for the Turf Club yesterday.

A group opposing the development, the Friends of the Curragh Environment Ltd, had their application for a protective cost order rejected in the Commercial Court.

The group had sought to have their legal costs covered on the grounds that there were issues of law raised in their judicial review application into the method with which An Bord Pleanála granted planning permission to the Turf Club for the building of a new hotel and road at the Curragh, and that these issues were of public interest.

The hearing took place at the end of May and Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday ruled against the application in a lengthy judgement that took 40 minutes to read out. Afterwards the applicants requested time to consider the judgment and the matter is listed for the court again next Friday. The Turf Club chief executive Denis Egan said he was "delighted" with the ruling and added: "We hope that work can begin on the redevelopment of the Curragh as soon as possible."

The first stage of the most ambitious racing development in Ireland's history was supposed to take place on April 1st with the building of a new road at the back of the current grandstand. A completely new grandstand was also planned to be mostly in place by the summer of next year but the Turf Club's time schedule has been put back by the legal wrangles over the matter. One of the environment group's members, a local farmer Percy Podger, has also objected to Kildare County Council in regard to planning permission for the proposed new stand.