The Irish Rugby Football Union "plans to use proceeds from the sale of a significant Dublin land bank to invest in club facilities across Ireland," according to Paul O’Donoghue of the LONDON TIMES. The IRFU confirmed on Monday that it agreed to sell 92.5 acres of land to Hibernia Reit, a property investment company, for €27M ($30.4M). The organization acquired the site at Newlands Cross in southwest Dublin in the mid-'90s and "has been on the lookout for an opportunity to sell." As well as the initial €27M from the sale, the IRFU "will be entitled to an additional payment from Hibernia Reit" if the property company rezones the land within the next 10 years. The IRFU said that the cash "would be used to invest in developing rugby." IRFU CEO Philip Browne said that the organization "regards the delivery of a sustainable, long-term additional income stream for investment in the domestic game [and] for the benefit of clubs and schools as one of its key priorities." Browne added that the deal would give the IRFU "the opportunity to progress investment options which will, in addition to securing a new realizable asset, produce an additional, long-term income stream to support further development of the domestic grassroots game on this island in the decades to come" (LONDON TIMES, 11/13).
