New €1m Mullingar site for GAA centre of excellence

Westmeath GAA has agreed to purchase over 48 acres of land from the Health Service Executive (HSE) for a new centre of excellence near the Delvin Road, Mullingar at a cost of €1,050,000.

The site is located directly behind St Loman’s Hospital, Mullingar and the planned development will significantly enhance sports and recreational facilities in the town. It comes on the back of the already confirmed new regional sports centre at Robinstown, Mullingar and the planned development by Mullingar Shamrocks GAA Club, all of which will make this area of a town a sporting hub in years to come.

Six new pitches are planned as part of the phased development and when linked to the current 3G all-weather facility at Lakepoint Park, it will give Westmeath GAA a total of seven playing pitches, along with a range of ancillary services. Once planning permission is secured, it will take several years to complete and the estimated cost of the entire project is between 10 and €15m.

There was overwhelming support from the clubs of Westmeath at a packed meeting in the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday evening.

Westmeath GAA County Committee Chairman Frank Mescall said the proposed development will strengthen the organisation for future generations and he thanked the clubs of the county for their endorsement.

“The facility will be a significant boost to the GAA community and will provide a centre of excellence for up and coming Westmeath players to flourish. This is the first step in a long process; we will present the purchase proposal to Croke Park in the coming days and await their approval,” he said.

The decision to proceed with the purchase came following a proposal by Mark Bardon, Multyfarnham, seconded by Dermot Broughan, Cullion. It received a strong mandate for the clubs present, although there were some calls to wait for another fortnight to allow clubs the 47 clubs further time to consider the enormity of the project.

There will be central funding for the new centre, but the bulk of the money will have to be raised by the clubs of the county.

Concerns about access to the land were addressed by Head of Operations Patrick Doherty, who explained a right of way will be provided.

“There’s a big gateway already there, an indentation in the streetscape to allow for a turn-in there, a roadway. That would have been all built as part of the link road development. Access to the site will be from the link road and that roadway will be our responsibility to build and we will be granted a right of way across the HSE land to the site,” he explained.

The roadway will be approximately 150m long.

Significantly, the development will be within walking distance from the current 3G pitch at Lakepoint Park and that was a major factor in Westmeath GAA pursuing the land purchase. The finalisation of the project is subject to planning permission and there is a two-year timeline to obtain this.

“There has been no detailed work or spend done on this yet. Everything we have done has been quite high-level. We have had a minor land survey, but not detailed, because we made a decision not to spend oodles of money on this until getting to a contract stage. We have held preliminary meetings with Croke Park and everything there is very positive,” explained Mr Doherty.

Former chairman Billy Foley and secretary Pat Reilly were acknowledged for their input, while Padraig Murtagh, insurance officer, who was the primary contact with the HSE in initial stages, was also thanked.

Mr Mescall thanked the HSE for their support and paid tribute to the three main protagonists involved in the negotiations.

“I have dealt with three men from the HSE over the past three years and I was to acknowledge their courtesy. They are three great GAA men. Often it was ‘pull your hair out’ time with how long it was going on, but the lads were very helpful to get it over the line.

He said the location is ideal for such a development. “We had a load of other places we could have gone, and could have got them a little cheaper, but this is within the town zone, ideal for the 3G pitch and it’s off the link road. There is easy access to it. It was a win win - that’s the way we looked at it,” he remarked.