New £6m GAA facility a 'great opportunity for young people'
Thursday, 2 October 2008
A PRESENTATION of the proposed GAA centre at Dunsilly was made to Antrim Councillors last week, with representatives of the sporting body expressing high hopes for the £6m facility.
Councillors from across the political divide supported the project, as they were shown a computer-generated film of what the site could eventually look like.
If given the go-ahead, the site would house six pitches, a sports hall, gym, new catch-nets, storage areas, changing rooms and a kitchen.
The site also ticked all the boxes for access routes, site dimensions and location within the town and county.
Representatives from the GAA called Dunsilly an 'auspicious site' and said that the facilities could support a variety of sports, not just Gaelic games.
An opportunity also existed, they said, to improve relations between both unionists and nationalists, and the growing numbers of migrants who are showing increasing interest in local sports.
Roisin Lynch, from St Comgall's GAC in Antrim, said that the facility would give a 'great heart and great energy' to the club, and encouraged everyone to be a part of it.
She said: "It's a great opportunity for young people to meet each other and to represent their county in other areas. It's something to be very proud of."
Despite a generally warm reception to the council chambers, concerns were raised by the TUV's Mel Lucas that GAA events of the past, some of which were connected with militant Republicanism, still overshadowed the organisation for many Unionists.
Stephen McGeehan, Project Officer of the Ulster Council of the GAA, said that the GAA were there to 'extend the hand of friendship' to the Unionist community in Antrim, saying that it was to the future that he hoped people could now look.
