‘Game-changer’ for county
The chairman of Cavan County GAA board has described the signing of a memorandum of agreement between Cavan GAA, Cavan LGFA and Cavan camogie as “momentous” and “a game-changer for the county” paving the way for the major Polo Grounds development.
The three bodies signed off on the agreement last Friday, undertaken “to establish a clear and transparent working relationship between all partners in relation to the development and usage of Cavan GAA Facilities and programmes”.
It is understood Cavan are the second county in Ireland to put in place such an agreement, which formalises the relationship between the county GAA board and the ladies football and camogie committees around access to pitches and facilities at Kingspan Breffni and the new Polo Grounds Centre of Excellence.
As part of the agreement, Cavan LGFA are to contribute €300,000 towards the project and Cavan camogie a sum of €50,000, both by June 1. “Under the large scale infrastructure fund, we have an application in as partners with the County Council and the Royal School and we’re hoping to be allocated funding to start phase one in 2025, obviously subject to planning permission,” stated Cavan GAA chairman Kieran Callaghan.
“It’s with An Bord Pleanála, it’s down for decision roughly in four months. Hopefully it’s a positive decision and we’d be expecting to be starting on site in 2025.
“Phase one of the campus development will give Cavan GAA two full-size GAA pitches.
“This agreement is massive, it’s momentous and groundbreaking for the county. Starting from where we had no agreement at all in place to get to this point is fantastic. This leaves us with a strong application including all codes, we are more open to funding now as well.
“Without all codes working together, funding is not going to be available.”
When the Polo Grounds Centre of Excellence is complete, it will be a major boost for the town and county, Callaghan stated.
“The sports campus in Cavan is led by Cavan county council and the partners are Cavan GAA and the Royal School. Add into that now Cavan camogie and Cavan LGFA, it’s going to be a phenomenal campus.
“It’s going to be a game-changer for Co Cavan. Four new GAA full-size pitches, a full astro-turf pitch, a hockey pitch, a soccer pitch, an athletics track and an indoor arena. It’s a massive campus.
“Between Cavan GAA and the sports campus, there’s about 90 acres in your county town.”
The chairman of Cavan LGFA, Philip Wilson, welcomed the agreement.
“The LGFA has been in Cavan for 48 years and this is the first time we will have had somewhere to call home,” he said.
“The three associations doing this gives us a headstart when integration does come. This was a no-brainer from day one, the negotiations went well, all parties wanted it to work and it did work.”
Shane Woods, camogie chairman, said: Cavan Camogie is proud to work in partnership with the GAA and LGFA on developing these state of the art facilities. This is an exciting development that will serve everyone in the county.”
“It represents a step change in the future of Gaelic games in Cavan. We would like to thank the Working Group, Executives and all the clubs who worked tirelessly to bring it all together as this will be a legacy for future generations to come.”