Tuohy to outline plans for Bohola training centre at Mayo GAA convention

MAYO GAA Chairman Séamus Tuohy will formally announce plans for a new training facility in Bohola at next month’s Mayo GAA convention. 

UK-based businessman and former Mayo Man of the Year Bill Durkan is set to gift Mayo GAA a 40-acre site in Bohola to develop a multi-million euro training facility. 

Tuohy expressed ‘frustration’ that the story was reported in the Connaught Telegraph before being formally announced by Mayo GAA, according to one delegate who attended last Monday’s county board meeting - at which no media were present.

It has been reported that the facility may cost more than €15 million to deliver if given the go-ahead. 

Bill Durkan, who is in his 80s, moved to London during the 1950s and made a fortune in the construction industry. His company funded the development of Durkan Bohola Community Park in Bohola, which last week announced a partnership with Mayo LGFA. 

Mayo GAA had sought to develop a centre of excellence at Mulvey Park near MacHale Park. 

Plans for the development of a ‘leadership academy’ were first announced by Tuohy at the Mayo GAA convention in December 2022. The county board had engaged in discussions with the Office of Public Works regarding the acquisition of land and unsuccessfully applied for funding in the recent Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) allocation. 

The monthly county board meeting also voted for Mayo GAA to vote in favour of proposed rule changes to Gaelic football at the special GAA congress on November 30. 

Former Mayo senior manager and Football Review Committee member James Horan addressed the meeting before delegates voted in favour of the new rules. 

These include throw-ins being contested by one player from each side and three players remaining inside the opposition half at all times. Kickouts must also travel beyond the 20-metre line while players can also avail of a rugby-style ‘tap and go’ instead of a free kick.

Mayo GAA’s convention will take place in the Great National Hotel in Ballina on December 8, where three candidates are set to contest the position of Vice-Chairman. 

Former Mayo GAA Secretary Dermot Butler (Crossmolina), Mayo GAA Bord na nÓg Chairman Charlie Lambert (Westport) and outgoing Mayo GAA Assistant Treasurer Michael Diskin (Claremorris) will all be vying for the second-most senior county board position. 

Con Moynihan of Ballaghaderreen is due to vacate the position as he has reached the five-year term limit for senior county board officers. 

The outgoing senior county board officials are set to remain in situ for 2025.