State funding "absolutely" necessary for Mayo GAA Centre of Excellence

It will be the “middle of next summer” before Mayo GAA could submit planning permission for the proposed Centre of Excellence in Bohola.

That was the message from Mayo GAA chairman Seamus Tuohy, as county board delegates last week received a presentation on the current update of the project.

Mr Tuohy said a lot of preliminary work has been done over the past six to eight months on whether the site, gifted by businessman Bill Durkan, a native of Bohola, is suitable, with various investigations carried out and numerous meetings with relevant stakeholders regarding planning.

The presentation at last Wednesday’s monthly meeting was given by Paul Hickey who in addition to being chairperson of the Chairde Mhaigh Eo committee, has past experience in construction as a qualified quantity surveyor. He was also manager of the Eastern Gaels that three days earlier had contested its first-ever Mayo JFC ‘A’ final.

The first pre-planning meeting was held in January and involved Barry Freeman and John Kearns of Mayo County Council, Walsh Associates and members of the Mayo GAA County Board, and that stage of the process was completed in March where an overview of the project was given, the scope of the works and whether there could be any major objections to planning.

Following site investigation works, the first on-site meeting was carried out in June with Tobin Engineering, sports ground specialists Prunty Pitches, Walsh Associates and members of Durcan Bohola Community Project (DBCP) and Mayo GAA representatives.

In late August, a land/topographical survey was carried out and another on-site meeting was carried out in September with Lally Engineers, Walsh Associates and members of DBCP and Mayo GAA. Last month, a second pre-planning meeting was held with Mayo County Council director of services Catherine McConnell, head of planning Brendan Munnelly and national roads office engineer Paul Hyland.

Mr Hickey said the lands in Bohola are pretty much in line with the land at the Connacht Centre of Excellence in Bekan, with only three isolated areas of bog/peat but nothing overly concerning. Once the isolated areas are excavated and filled, a two-tier drainage system will be put in place.

There will be five full-size pitches, with discussions underway between Mayo GAA and DBCP about a sixth pitch on adjoining land. The main entrance to the facility would be on the R321 Bohola-Kiltimagh Road. DBCP are already in a licence agreement with Mayo LGFA for their own training base for all the county football teams and have started works on their pitch.

Additional facilities proposed for the facility include a 20,000 sq ft clubhouse over two floors consisting of meeting rooms, a doctor’s office and a physio office, gymnasium and a minimum of eight dressing rooms. There will also be about 250 parking spaces between the main and overflow car parks.

Mr Tuohy said that with any development, there will have to be commitment to integration with the LGFA and Camogie otherwise no state funding will be given, with Mr Hickey adding they will “absolutely” need state funding for the project, which has an initial cost of €15.5m.

Garrymore delegate John Farragher said while clubs will help with any fundraisers, a clear message must be sent that the entire €15m cannot go back to the clubs. Mr Tuohy said he was “fully committed” that would not be the case.

Hollymount-Carramore delegate Mike Connelly remarked that “no effort” had been put in place to date for a big fundraising gig and the county “was sitting on our hands” in relation to fundraising.

In response, Mr Tuohy said he will have a plan for delegates at the next meeting in two weeks’ time in regards to the fundraising.

When Connelly countered that the County Board “should have been doing this two years ago”, the Mayo GAA chairman responded that they needed an ‘identifiable project’.

“If we had fundraised prior to this, people would be saying ‘you want to pay the loan’,” said Mr Tuohy, in reference to the long-standing debt for MacHale Park.

Swinford delegate Peter Geraghty said it was important this project is promoted as a positive, calling it the “best project” in all his years in Mayo football.

“Anyone involved in Mayo knows the difficulty in getting pitches. The GAA have always been there to provide facilities for the youth of our country. No other organisation has come near them.” When it was put to the floor on whether the project would move to the next stage of development – seeking planning permission – Mike Connelly proposed while Louisburgh delegate John Gibbons seconded.

Following the full presentation, delegates gave Hickey a round of applause for his presentation.