The Killanny people are proven achievers. But just to prove the point, they've come together to set in train the development of a brand new community centre adjacent to the Geraldines' HQ. Killanny may not have always sported the brightest stars ever witnessed on the playing fields of Monaghan but you can't have it everyway. Fact is, there's hardly a club in the county who can boast such a consistent and sterling coterie of administrators over the years. Almost 50 years ago, committee men at the helm at the helm stood up and were counted in raising the sum total of 60 pounds for the year to run the club. A half a century later, the proud Geraldines continue to beaver away to ensure the viability and future well-being of the Louth-border outfit. In this respect, men like club development officer Seamus McMahon is worth his weight in gold to the Geraldines and it's role in the development of a community centre. Seamus is a hard-working club member but extremely modest and he's at pains to play down his role as chairman of the committee set up to make the project a reality. He delighted in overseeing the turning of the sod last July for the new community centre and is confident that all objectives of the organising committee will bear fruit. Despite the relative dearth of trophies , Killanny, as a club, is firmly commited to the aims and ideals of the GAA and prides itself on being the focal point of the community. As such, it was perhaps inevitable that Killanny Geraldines would be touted as the 'anchor tenant' of the community centre when completed. Seamus concurs. "A range of community groups came together and formed a committee to look into the feasability and worthwhileness of getting a new community centre up and running. "It was always an aim of the GAA club to construct such a centre but it decided some time ago not to go it alone in that regard but to seek the support of other groups. "It would have been a massive struggle for the GAA to have gone ahead with the project on its own and you could have been looking at servicing a debt for maybe 15 to 20 years which wouldn't have been in anyone's interest, least of all those in the GAA." And so it came to pass that the GAA was joined by local organisations such as the three churches, Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland and Baptist plus the bowls club, badminton club, senior citizens etc in establishing the inaugural committee of which the aforementioned Seamus is chairman. 2005 saw a lot of progress being made with regard to moving the community centre plan forward with the turning of the sod last July symptomatic of the energy lent to it. In the past year, some 120,000 euros were raised by the committee via various fundraising projects such as the 'who wants to be a thousandaire' gameshow, a corporate dinner and a massive bar-b-que - each of which were generously supported by locals and non-locals alike. In addition, some valuable financial assistance was forthcoming from the Peace and Reconciliation funds and from the National Lottery's Capital Sports Grant programme. "You always have to be positive and upbeat when going ahead with such a project but we are hopeful of getting together another 300,000 to finish the job," Seamus quips. Just how the committee is going to go about garnering another 300,000 euros hasn't quite been decided upon but it'll be a sleeves-rolled-up business one way or the other. At the time of going to press, it has been mooted that a car/holiday draw would be an appropriate and handsome money-earner. And there's the window of opportunity offered too by the willingness of Killanny GAA to go 50/50 with the committee with regard to the selling of their lotto tickets. "We've already got 350 members signed up, on a direct-debit basis, to purchase the two euro lotto tickets every weekend so that'll bring in a fair amount of money. "The committee is lucky in that the Killanny club has given us a site, adjoining the football ptich, free of charge, on a 99 year lease so we've kept down the costs that way. In truth, it doesn't appear as if 'luck' is any part of the equation here; rather hard work, intelligent planning and a massive amount of goodwill has worked the oracle so far. That said, Seamus is very quick to acknowledge the generosity of Killanny Geraldines in affording the cross-community committee the leg-up of a free site. "Definitely, you have to take your hat off to the club because the mind boggles as to what it would cost the committee to try and buy the same size of site. "Considering the price of a site around Killanny now, you'd be talking about around half-a-million euros probably before we'd have a block laid. "As well as the site, the club has shown the committee a lot of goodwill by agreeing to go halves with the revenue generated from the weekly lotto. "The fact that we have been able to use the structures of the GAA, such as their membership, to help raise funds has been enormously helpful too. "Because it will be located next to the GAA pitch, the GAA club will probably benefit that bit more than the rest of the committees and we had to sell it to the others more "The thing is though that there has been unanimous support from every section of the community in Killanny, every organisation and every individual. "It's a massive undertaking to commit yourself to raising in excess of one million euros but we're confident the local contribution to that figure will exceed one-third of that. As chairman of the community centre committee, Seamus is relieved and extremely pleased that he has such a good team of doers working towards a common goal. Seamus says the most ardous part of his job to date was getting the committee established and up and running. After that the project gained a momentum all of its own. He believes that the achievement to date in raising 120,000 euros is proof positive that the will and the energy is there within Killanny to push on and complete the job. "Over the past seven to ten years, the GAA club came up with various plans to possibly develop a centre off its own back but nothing ever came of it for different reasons. "Three years ago the club made a concerted effort to look into the idea but it was discovered that to avail of the really big grants, the project had to be community based. "When it is complete it will not only benefit those who are into the GAA but the parish as a whole," the popular farmer explains. And when it is ready for use, the centre should be a magnet for young and old in the Killanny area. The proposed centre will include, downstairs, four meeting rooms, a cresh facility and a fully-fitted kitchen plus four dressing-rooms with attendant shower facilities. Upstairs, meanwhile, there will be a small playing area, small gym and another meeting room. "I suppose our biggest task when it is eventually opened will be to see that it is a runner, financially. "We want it to pay for itself and that may mean leasing out the creche, holding 21st and funeral parties and such like. "The committee believes that Killanny is a growing area and has, at present, the population to support such a centre. "Ninety houses have been built in the area over the last three years or so and we're almost a suburb of Carrick at this stage and that (Carrick) is another catchment area as is Dundalk and Louth village. "Numbers in the local school are on the up too and from what I am lead to believe, the school is short just a couple of pupils to allow for the recruitment of a sixth teacher. "Killanny has become commuting territory for people working in Dublin and that can only be positive for not only the GAA club but for all bodies and the community centre. It's quite obvious that Seamus and co. boast a huge degree of pride in their parish and it seems that they're destined to succeed in their ambitious plan. "The committee is made up of very dedicated and committed people with a lot of ability in various fields such as architecture and construction. "It's an honour for me to be chairman of the committee and it will be a great source of pride to everyone when the centre is complete." And a possible date for completion? "The hope is that it will be complete and open for use by mid-September next. "The debt will probably still be around the 200,000 mark but we have applied for more Peace and Reconciliation money and we'd be optimistic on that front. "We would anticipate that the centre will be the focal point of the parish. "We have the football pitch, a new school and the new centre will provide as much facilities as many other bigger towns would boast." Seamus spoke to us the night after the Annual General Meeting of Killanny Geraldines. So how did the meeting go? "There must have been at least 40 people there which is a good turnout. "It was a very positive meeting and hopefully we'll have a trophy or two to celebrate in 2006." Leave it to Seamus to finish on a positive note. Tweet

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