Synthetic turf in the Republic of Ireland

In January 2012, The Republic of Ireland had a total of 5629 registered football clubs; with an estimated 48 full size synthetic pitches. Overall player participation in male and female footballers has seen a 15% increase since 2004.

When asked about synthetic turf football pitch development in the Republic of Ireland, Aodh Cronin, Facility Development Administrator, Football Association of Ireland said, “The GAA is the governing body for the national games here and are likely to develop pitches in this period. Due to the large size of Gaelic pitches of 14000m2, often two football pitches are developed within the parameters. This could lead to increased number of pitches in this period; it could be a possibility with rugby pitches being built for multi purposes, but not as many.”

By 2020, it is estimated that there will be another 350 mini synthetic football pitches in the Republic of Ireland.