Louise and Mark O'Connor and their son Evan who had additional needs were found on Monday morning after sustaining fatal stab wounds
Search
30 Sept 2025
Search
30 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Donegal's Shay Given is looking to set up Arena Padel in Ireland
A planning application submitted by former Irish goalkeeper Shay Given and his business partner, Declan Fagan, for a €4 million padel centre has been refused by Kildare County Council.
Lifford’s Given, and Mr Fagan, had lodged for planning permission for Arena Padel, which would have been a 45,000 sq. ft indoor padel facility in Goffs, Kildare.
The area had been planned to feature nine championship-standard courts, a ‘bio-circuit’ gym in partnership with Technogym, and recovery rooms, in an investment that could have created 30 jobs.
Planning for the padel centre in Goffs was refused due to a decision to zone the land for equine-related development, and that the proposed Padel Centre was “not an equine-based development and would set an undesirable precedent for similar non-equine related uses on the landholding.”
Kildare County Council’s decision to refuse planning permission for Arena Padel in Goffs comes a week after Given and Mr Fagan submitted a planning application to Kilkenny County Council for an Arena Padel in Gowran Park.
READ NEXT: Derrybeg nursing home criticised by HIQA for non-compliant premises
Plans in Kilkenny are to open a state-of-the-art, 22,000 sq. ft indoor padel facility to build five padel courts on site.
It is understood that the planning application in Kilkenny includes a sauna, ice bath, changing rooms, and an indoor golf simulator.
Padel is a racket sport played in an enclosed court, with the same scoring system as tennis, but with different rules, strokes and equipment. The sport originated in Mexico, but has long been popular in countries like Spain and Brazil.
On social media, Given had stated how “excited” he was for the project in Kildare and his Arena Padel project in general.
He stated: “It’s the fastest growing sport in the world, and it’s easy to see why. Padel can be played together by all ages and skill levels.
“We’ve founded Arena Padel to bring padel tennis to the masses by investing in purpose-built modern sports arenas.”
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
