They all know him as 'Gerry from Dunganny'. So much so, that this has effectively become his name. And his identity. Gerry Curran has no problem with that. A familiar and instantly-recognisable face at Meath GAA's Centre of Excellence, Gerry provides a vital service to the thousands of footballers and hurlers, young and old, who use the superb facilities at Dunganny.

If you or your kids have been privileged enough to use the County Board's training facilities at Dunganny, then chances are you know Gerry Curran. You might not have known that his surname is Curran; indeed, you may even have assumed that he carried a double-barrelled second name along the lines of From-Dunganny; but you will have noticed that he is a very helpful, friendly and efficient man who works quietly behind the scenes, ensuring that every gathering at the Centre of Excellence goes off smoothly.

Gerry's in his fourth year now as groundsman / caretaker of the Dunganny Centre of Excellence, located three miles from Trim on the Navan Road. He's the first man in and the last man out, making sure that every person who trains or plays at the impressive facility - from the youngest underage teams up to senior county training sessions - is looked after.
When a problem arises, Gerry will solve it. Need a ball pumped up? Missing some cones? Did both teams bring the same colour of jerseys? Misplaced your car keys? Maybe you need to borrow a whistle? From the smallest details, Gerry Curran makes the Dunganny experience an enjoyable and stress-free one.

The pitches are always in immaculate condition, properly marked out; the dressing-rooms are tidy and comfortable; the grounds look nice and the buildings are in top nick. Everything - and everybody - is safe and secure. Best of all, Gerry's not a robot going about his duties with a blank expression on his face … he's a friendly, approachable individual and visitors generally have great craic with him.

He became an employee of the County Board in June 2008. It was very much a professional contract as Gerry admits he didn't even follow football or hurling at the time. "I worked as a contract fencer / landscaper for years, before the bubble burst, but that work was taking up a lot of my time and I wanted to do something that would allow me a bit more free time. I got the option to come in here and I took it.

"To be honest, nobody else wanted it at the time because there was plenty of work out there, and a lot of people told me I was mad, but it suited me at the time and, as it turns out, I was lucky to get in at just the right time. It suits me because I don't have fixed hours and I can operate flexibly. This morning, for example, I came in at 6am and I'll be finished at 1 in the afternoon. Then I'll be back for the evening shift. You can't complain about that."

What are the typical daily duties? "I come in in the morning and do a bit of tidying up, then get the pitches ready for matches. There will always be general tasks that need to be done, like spraying or something. It's not rocket science, in fairness. Once you keep on top of things, it's straightforward enough. But there's always plenty to do. At night time, I come back in for the training and games etc. I just sort of float about and keep an eye on everything.
"I line the pitches out and handle small things but I don't have to worry about the general maintenance of the pitches - that's contracted out to John McBride and JMB Sportsfield Services."

Still, it sounds like a lot of hours are involved between day and night shifts, bearing in mind that Dunganny is on the go seven days a week… "I did seven days a week in the beginning but drew a line under that about two years ago. Jimmy Henry does the weekends for me now and he also does all the holiday work. So I'm doing five days and five nights."
The schedule at the Centre of Excellence is a hectic one, with something on every night from January right through to All-Ireland time. And Gerry is pretty much the first port of call for everyone who enters the facility: "I suppose I'd be the first person they see when they come in and they all know me as 'Gerry from Dunganny'. That's the name I'm known by.

"We have the kit room stocked up this year and I try to ensure that if any county teams or school teams turn up with the same colours then we can sort them out.

"If there's an injury, I have a bit of experience and can help out but most teams will have a First Aid person or doctor with them. There were a couple of occasions where we had to call an ambulance, but thankfully these have been few and far between.
"It's a hands-on job and there is a lot of variety and I'm a divil to talk, so you meet people and talk about the weather or politics or football or whatever. It's all good craic. I'd have a good laugh here most nights. I have good craic with the senior hurlers after they train. They're a great bunch of lads and there's good banter in them, so there's always a bit of craic when they're around.
"I never remember all the names but they seem to remember me alright. You get to know everyone and the people who use these facilities are all very decent."

How long would an average night shift last for? "Well, tonight I'll open up the gates at 6.15 and I'll be out at about 9.45. I'd average about ten-to-fifteen hours a week at nights from January to June, but you could easily be up to 20 hours a week in the summertime with senior teams etc. in.

"It's a big facility and it can get very busy. You could have more than 1,500 people in for the Go Games on Saturdays. From the second week of September, you'd be guaranteed at least three schools games a week and you will have matches on day and night.
"It's a great facility for the county and I'm looking forward to seeing further development here. It's nice to think that in the future I will be able to look back and say I was here when there were stones on the car-park."

And how does Gerry find working for the County Board? "They tend to let me get on with it. I'll get the tools out and fix things myself and they know they can depend on me. If there's a problem here, I will sort it without even bothering them. I'll only really contact them if it's a major problem but I try to make sure this never happens. Prevention is better than cure so from experience I do everything I can to make sure such problems don't arise.

"My relationship with the County Board is very good and I also work hand-in-hand with John McBride. You could be brought over to Pairc Tailteann for a day or two to do some work over there, so you never have a dull moment. You'd always find something constructive to do. I'm an outdoors person anyway so it's all second nature to me. I never enjoyed working inside. I'm left to my own devices and that's great.

"I suppose the weather can be one of your worst enemies. This year was a demon. We ran into a lot of hardship with bad weather, but you have to take it in your stride and get on with it." Tweet

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