Padel tennis is set to make a huge racket in Mayo

With six projects approved or in the planning pipeline in the last six months, is padel tennis about to make a huge racket in county Mayo?

Ballinrobe is the latest town to join the padel tennis craze with two courts planned for a site at the Bowers (see page 4). 

Padel shares a lot of elements with tennis, such as the use of rackets and its scoring system, with a notable difference of taking place in an enclosed court.

This makes for longer rallies and less chasing after a rapid ball resulting in a sport that is easier on the limbs and more accessible to all ages and body builds.

The sport is on the crest of a wave and is aiming for the stratosphere; it featured as a medal sport at the European Games in recent years and could be part of the Olympics by 2032.

In the Irish context, the number of facilities has jumped by 60% since 2023 with 64 venues and 224 courts nationwide.

Planning permission was granted for three padel courts at Castlebar Tennis Club last November. If it proved popular, it would be a huge boost for the club, which suffered the loss of its Dome during Storm Isha in 2024.

Elsewhere, permission was granted for the installation of three modular, portable padel tennis courts at Westport Country Lodge Hotel to Padel Sports 100 Limited. The Cork-based company has ambitious plans for the sport and has also submitted planning applications for similar, modular and portable court developments at Claremorris Tennis Club and at Breaffy House Resort, near Castlebar. Decisions on both proposed developments are due on April 29 and May 4 next respectively.

Planning permission was granted in February for the conversion of a former warehouse in Ballina to four indoor padel courts. The team behind the proposed facility includes soon-to-be-retired Connacht Rugby player Jack Carty and his business partner Fergal Hynes and the plan is attracting a lot of intrigue around the town.

The pair have been sharing behind-the-scenes updates on their Instagram page, showing the courts arriving in the north Mayo capital on the back of a lorry and being put into place by forklifts and heavy lifters.

Some wonder whether the demand is there in Mayo for six new facilities for what is still, ultimately, a niche sport. According to Padelcourts.ie, which provides the locations for padel courts across Ireland, Galway city is serviced by one padel tennis facility, operated by Carty and Hynes, and the only other facility in the county is located in Connemara. Two padel tennis projects are planned for county Sligo, one for Leitrim and one for Roscommon, giving a total of six in the rest of Connacht.

Should all six Mayo facilities - encompassing 18 courts - proceed, the county will go from having no padel courts to being second only to Dublin for the number of facilities. Time will tell if padel can be a grand slam in county Mayo.