Gaa president to open dunganny facilities at weekend

The president of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Aogán Ó Fearghail, will be in Meath at the weekend to officially open the new buildings at Meath GAA’s Centre of Excellence at Dunganny, Trim.
The second phase of Dunganny consists of six dressing rooms with a gym, office and meeting spaces, referees room, medical room and canteen, and was recommended in a report prepared by the County Board’s Infrastructure Committee, led by Noel Dempsey and Liam Mulvihill in September 2013.
The report was unanimously backed by clubs in the county at a special meeting of the County Board and the clubs also unanimously supported a proposal to levy clubs to meet some of the costs associated with the development. Croke Park pledged a further €500,000 and Leinster Council €200,000. The total cost of the building project is in the region of €2m plus fit out costs.
The initial phase of development of the grass and 3G pitches, on land formerly owned by 1954 Meath footballer Patsy McGearty, was completed at a total cost of €4.2 million. National Lottery funding of €1m was secured in 2006 and Croke Park contributed €500,000. The County Board financed the remainder through a loan, the repayments of which come from its own finances. No levy was imposed on clubs for this phase of the development. Over the coming years, Dunganny will play host to underage games, as well as school games, leagues, and championship matches, both hurling and football.
The GAA president is no stranger to Meath - one of his early positions in his teaching career was in Scoil Colmcille in Kells, where he taught in the late 1970s.