Ireland’s padel court building boom in full swing despite high-profile planning refusals

To those paying attention, it might seem like they are everywhere. The distinctive part-glass, part-cage padel court was once a curiosity, but the regularity with which they are appearing is evidence of a sport growing in popularity in many towns and cities.

Racket sports were once the preserve of tennis and squash enthusiasts – a relatively small band of fairly fit and skilful people. But padel is designed to be played by as many people as possible, with all talent and fitness levels seemingly being accommodated.

Naomi Nicholl, chief executive of the Padel Ireland Federation, has found her hands full with efforts to meet the rising demand for the sport, and it has been a hectic period for the federation.

“The Padel League of Ireland launched on August 1st,” she says. “It’s an all-Ireland league with 33 clubs, 106 teams and over 1,000 players – that’s huge.”

The federation has been in existence for more than 14 years, but Nicholl says it was after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in 2021 when there was a big uptick in participation.

“Pre-Covid it was starting to take off and a good few planning applications had gone in for padel courts – then it slowed down a bit,” she says.

“That gave us a good opportunity to put in a framework to support the growth. We introduced training programmes – brought over Spanish federation coaches to develop a programme to train our coaches. We have trained around 170 coaches. We knew the demand would continue and we needed to support that.”

Nicholl says accessibility is what is driving demand for the sport.

Usually four players take to the enclosed court, which is about one third of the size of a tennis court. Much of the game’s appeal lies in the fact the ball can bounce off a wall and come back into play.

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“I think it is because at entry level it is easy to play – you don’t have to have huge skills to start off. It’s very social – people have an opportunity to meet new players,” Nicholl says.

Squash and tennis, in some instances, have fallen behind in this wave of enthusiasm for padel.

Take the example of Old Belvedere Rugby Club on Anglesea Road in south Dublin, of which financier Dermot Desmond is a backer.

Last year, the owners proposed the demolition of its two squash courts, to be replaced with three padel courts.

The local squash players were dismayed, with Squash Ireland among those who appealed the original planning application. After some discussions with members, Old Belvedere proposed the building of a new, single squash court.

“We told them that a single court doesn’t really work for us,” says Teddy Reinecke, a veteran of what was once the Old Belvedere Squash Club.

“You need two courts for league games – sometimes you’d be sharing courts with two league teams of an evening – so you could end up going on well into the night,” Reinecke says.

“The squash club has moved to SportsCo [leisure facility] in Ringsend – they had three squash courts that were underutilised. We have an arrangement with them and kept our club together. We now call ourselves Belvedere SportsCo.”

When contacted for comment about the changes at Old Belvedere, the club president said it was against its policy to talk to the media.

The club has constructed a new squash court on its campus and the news in June that it was nearing completion was welcomed by Squash Ireland. The national governing body’s chief executive Scott Graham described the all-glass design as a “European first” and said it looks “absolutely fantastic”.

Reinecke says the financial appeal of building and running padel courts is undeniable.

“What people are paying for padel far outstrips what you’d get for squash,” he says. “Padel is a much more monetised venture; you pay for your court. Squash and tennis are generally run by clubs – you might pay a nominal amount for the court – but nowhere near the sort of fees that padel is charging.”

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For example, a premium 6pm slot two Fridays ago at the Old Belvedere padel courts cost €105 for 90 minutes’ playing time.

The club says the courts are designed for “elite padel” and it aims to “provide players with the best indoor padel courts, coffee and vibrant club atmosphere”.

The fact that four people can play padel together helps with the pricing at many courts, says Reinecke.

Other courts – like Star Padel at St Mary’s College RFC in Dublin’s Templeogue – were in big demand the same weekend, according to the Playtomic booking website. A 90-minute booking there for 5.30pm on the Saturday afternoon was priced at €75.

Outside Dublin, prices aren’t as steep – but demand remains high.

At Padel Zone in Celbridge, Co Kildare, one of the remaining Saturday bookings sought €42 for an hour. In Co Louth, Ballymascanlon Hotel & Golf Resort was charging €40 for an hour at 6pm on the Saturday.

Evidence of the demand for padel can also clearly be seen in planning applications.

There have been several high-profile ventures – such as that fronted by the former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper, Shay Given.

His ArenaPadel, which he backs along with businessman Declan Fagan, last month received planning permission for a “state of the art” €4 million padel centre on the grounds of The Club Hotel at Goffs, Co Kildare.

After overcoming initial land-zoning objections, Given and Fagan hope to open the nine-court indoor facility next spring. When they first announced the plan last year, they said it was their intention to bring padel “to the masses” and that the facility would lead to the creation of 30 jobs.

There was an earlier refusal due to the equine-related zoning of the lands in question, but plans to include a gym for use by the hotel and jockey-related welfare facilities provided a workaround.

In Co Dublin, the Stepaside Golf Centre in Kilternan is seeking permission to build a detached sports building that would host five padel courts. In Inchicore, permission is sought for a sports facility with padel courts. And, not far from Old Belvedere on Serpentine Avenue, Pembroke Wanderers Hockey Club last month sought permission to build three new courts.

The same pattern can be observed outside the capital.

Limerick Lawn tennis club, like Old Belvedere, sought to redevelop existing grounds and secured permission to convert two tennis courts into four padel courts.

But these things do not always go to plan.

In February, planning permission was refused to Padel Tennis Ireland after it sought to build eight padel courts on the Bandon Road in Bishopstown, Co Cork.

In it its application, the sporting body said the “popularity of the sport in the country is driving a demand for more such facilities”.

Cork City Council found the courts were to be located in an area zoned for “dynamic light industry and manufacturing” and the padel facility would “be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area”.

Other high-profile applications have also fallen foul of the planning authorities.

In February, a bid by a firm tied to the developer Johnny Ronan failed to get planning to construct two padel courts at Spencer Dock in Dublin 1.

In March, Fingal County Council refused planning permission to UK retail giant Hammerson for 10 padel courts at its Swords Pavilion shopping centre in north Dublin on the grounds that the land was required for the MetroLink rail project.

Last month, plans for padel courts at the Mount Pleasant tennis club in Ranelagh, Dublin 6, were stalled following objections from a large number of local residents.

Nonetheless, the sport continues to grow.

According to Padel Federation Ireland, since the first padel court opened in Dublin in 2012, 254 others have been built in the State, a number that will undoubtedly grow significantly if existing planning applications offer any sort of a guide.

Nicholl believes padel can play a critical role in keeping younger people involved in sport. She says the federation is focused on building the foundations of the sport into the future.

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“It is really important for parents to know that this is another sporting option for their children,” she says.

“This is a relatively new sport they can come into at nine or 10 years old and they’re joining other children who haven’t played before. Nobody has a head start and that is a lovely thing.”

Back at SportsCo in Dublin, Reinecke – who has played and enjoyed padel – insists squash continues to hold its own and does not have any issues “recruiting new people” to play.

He compares the current popularity of padel with a similar surge of enthusiasm for squash several decades ago.

“When I started playing in the 1970s and 1980s, there were squash courts in sports clubs everywhere – pretty much like with padel now,” he says.

He is hopeful that padel could, for some, be a gateway to his own preferred sport.

“Squash is a high-intensity sport. You get a workout in 45 minutes of the kind you wouldn’t get in a couple of hours of padel. It is also a forgiving game – you hit the wall and the ball comes back to you.”

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