Fundraising for Mayo GAA centre of excellence to begin in 2024

FUNDRAISING for a new Mayo GAA centre of excellence in Mulvey Park, Castlebar, is to begin in 2024.

Mayo GAA Chairman Seamus Touhy confirmed at today’s Mayo GAA convention that costings and fundraising for three new grass pitches, a ball wall and spectator area would begin early in the new year.

The project has involved the acquisition of new ground at Mulvey park and negotiations between Mayo GAA, Castlebar Mitchels, Mayo County Council and the OPW.

Fundraising for the Mulvey Park will commence early in 2024 when full agreement has been reached with all stakeholders while costings are ‘near completion’.

“Hopefully we will be in a position, early in the new year, to bring that agreement to contract stage, and we will revert back to our county committee with draft drawings and costings on the project,” Touhy told delegates.

The Breaffy clubman added that the county board would need to plan towards a green field site to complete a centre of excellence in anticipation of increased demand on facilities from the proposed amalgamation of the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association.

He said that it would be ‘deeply concerning’ if there was not ‘major investment’ from government in playing facilities to cater to such an amalgamation.

In his address, Touhy also announced the appointment of ex-Mayo All-Star Colm Boyle as head of the Mayo Under-19 development panel.

Regarding the Mayo senior footballers’ campaign, Touhy said that Kevin McStay had laid ‘a solid foundation,’ but that ‘improvements in certain areas’ were required for 2024, adding that ‘Kevin would be the first man to say it’.

“Ultimately he and his management team will be targeting greater consistency in performance throughout any single game in ’24,” said Touhy.

Touhy said that Mayo GAA’s accounts were in ‘a very satisfactory position’.

The 2024 accounts show that Mayo GAA made €776,357 of a profit and had €5,184,865 in net assets.

Kevin Fitzmaurice, who started his role as Mayo GAA’s Financial Officer in August, told the convention that the outstanding debt on MacHale Park would not be paid out for another 2024 years.

The county board is currently making approximately €300,000 in annual repayments on a loan to redevelop the stadium in 2008.

Addressing concerns and ‘unhelpful comments’ around the playing surface in Hastings

Insurance MacHale Park, Touhy said that the pitch ‘really came on’ in the last twelve months.

The county board has acquired its own equipment and appointed an agronomist to oversee the management of the pitch, which he said had ‘put us on the right road’.

A programme of sanding, feeding, as well as rest periods, have been in place on the pitch, which Touhy said would need to be ‘continually managed, especially through wet conditions’.

Touhy also called on clubs to provide new referees to officiate an ‘unprecedented’ number of games in the county.

Noting a few ‘isolated incidents’ in 2023, Touhy said that there was ‘absolutely no place in our games for abuse’ of officials.

“If every club came back with one referee, we would be in a favourable position,” he said, before imploring delegates to address the ‘urgency’ of the situation.

There were no new officers elected to the Mayo GAA county board after former Mayo GAA Chairman Mike Connelly withdrew his nomination for the position of Coaching Officer, which was retained by Castlebar Mitchels clubman Declan O’Reilly.