Footballer Troy Parrott has given his backing to a campaign to save his former local sports pitch on Dublin's Portland Row.
A new housing development is planned on the space, known locally as the Strand.
Writing on Instagram, the Republic of Ireland star said the pitch is a "vital part of our community" and a "safe place for all to build friendships and practice our trade".
He described it as a "great pitch" adding, "back our children, back our community, save our pitch".
The space is located near the Five Lamps, in an area now known as the 'Golden Mile', where some of the country's most successful sportspeople grew up.
They include boxer Kellie Harrington, Parrott and former Irish football internationals Wes Hoolohan and Olivia O’Toole - all said to have begun honing their skills on the pitch now earmarked for housing.
Earlier this month, planning permission was secured for a new 49-unit development, which will be delivered by Tuath Housing and Dublin City Council.
In a statement, it said it represents a "meaningful step forward" for housing delivery in the north inner-city - a community, it said, which is one of the capital’s most acute areas of housing need.
Watch: 'Part of who we are' - Kellie Harrington laments possible loss of pitch
It said while it acknowledges the concerns raised by the local community in relation to the playing field, it has to be balanced in the context of the urgent need to provide homes.
Local resident, double Olympic Gold Medal winner Kellie Harrington, is calling for the pitch to be retained.
She said she uses it "once or twice" a week and regularly brings other teams down to train.
"It's not just important, it's vital to a community like this. If you just walk around here, we have so many concrete buildings going up day by day, and our space is getting smaller and smaller.
"For this particular area, it's a well closed in space… We're the ones who look after it. And if we lose that, we lose a part of who we are and what has helped to shape us as people and as athletes," she said.
She stressed that if the pitch is taken away, it will have a "very detrimental impact on our community".
"We already have plenty of anti-social behaviour going on around here. And take this away, the kids don't have anywhere to play. You know, they don't have a safe space, so it just encourages them to go out and to hang around the corners, to run in and out of the flat complexes."
The boxer is backing local calls for the proposed housing development to be scaled back and for it to be solely built on the adjoining Dublin City Council depot, leaving the pitch in place.
One of the leaders of the campaign is Social Democrat councillor Daniel Ennis.
"Look we need more housing. There's no doubt about that. It's the biggest crisis our country faces … We need to build more housing, but we need to build communities and sustainable communities.
"This is a vital recreational play space. It's a lifeline for a lot of our children. That has been historically a lifeline, and we can't lose that. This area cannot lose that," he said.
"Go ahead with the development, improve and upgrade the pitch, and link it in with that development as well as the wider community… Troy Parrott, Kellie Harrington, Keith Treacy, this is not only a centre of excellence for those names, it's also a centre of solace for kids in the area," he added.
Former Irish international and local Keith Treacy is also backing the campaign.
"This pitch has been absolutely instrumental to my career. And it's not an exaggeration to say that I wouldn't have played for Ireland, I probably wouldn't be alive if this pitch wasn't here," he said.
For him, the pitch growing up, was his outlet and a distraction, that kept him on the right path.
"When you live in the north inner-city, there's a lot of bad, there's a lot of good as well, don't get me wrong, but you can easily go down the wrong road," he said.
The pitch itself is not impressive to look at it - it is tarmac. But it is on surfaces like this, Treacy says, that footballers develop their touch and learn how to time and ride tackles.
"I know it doesn't look right on the eye, but when you play professional football, you're going to come up against people who are bigger than you, people who are stronger… people that just want to hurt you within the game. And you get that in here. These are all things that when you're in an academy, you're supposed to be able to deal with already," he said.
Dublin City Council and Tuath said the new housing development will also include a "multi-use community facility’", with the council "committed" to upgrading another facility, which, it said, is less than 250m away.
Tuath and DCC also say that a study identified that the area is "well served" by a "broad range" of spaces and park facilities.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said it is crucial that the sports pitch is saved.
She said that while more housing is vital, communities also have to be built.
"This pitch is very important for the young people of the local area. It is a place where they can play safely, enjoy games, develop their sports skills and make friends. It's a place where young people from the area grow up together, and that is everything. This is not only a pitch. It has been a real part of this community for a long time. It has been the foundation for many sporting heroes from the local area. It must be saved," she said.
Those behind the Save Our pitch campaign said their work will continue.
