With a strong emphasis on local developments within the Cavan county boundaries, Orkan Properties is certainly doing its bit to promote the Breffni Blue. A dedication to providing quality housing in any region is sure to have a positive knock-on effect for GAA clubs there and this is a welcome bonus to the directors of Orkan, who are keen Cavan gaels. The knock-on effect is obvious: by developing houses and providing improved living conditions in the county, Orkan Properties gives grassroots GAA a better chance to thrive and flourish. It's a numbers game at the end of the day and the more people there are living in a particular area the greater the prospects for the local GAA club. Fronted by enthusiastic gaelic games followers in the persons of the O'Reilly brothers, Orkan Properties is clearly doing its bit on behalf of the indigenous sporting organisation. The company has a policy of seeking out projects within the greater Cavan area and this is beneficial to everybody in the county. By keeping it local and demonstrating a sense of loyalty to the good folk of Cavan, the O'Reillys are helping put Cavan back on the map. And we can't talk about Cavan without talking about its second religion - gaelic football… The company title Orkan Properties is derived from the names of the three brothers who run the business - Kevin, Arthur and Nobby O'Reilly. Arthur is a former Mountnugent footballer who lined out for the club in their thrilling 1988 county JFC final success. He's also currently active in the club's juvenile section and will take charge of the U16s in 2007. He reflects on how the genesis of Orkan occurred a decade ago: "I returned home from the States in 1997 and Nobby was working in Dublin at the time. I didn't want to go back to the city and saw no reason why we couldn't build houses in Cavan, so we teamed up and bought some local property with a view to developing it. We built those houses in Mountnugent in 1999/2000 and that was a really good start for the company. It went on from there and, since then, we've always tried to generate our work within our own county…" This policy has worked well so far and the philosophy of concentrating on local development provides the communities concerned with a huge boost - from an employment point of view as much as anything. As Arthur explains: "I'm involved with the Mountnugent club myself and a lot of the young lads who work for us also play for the local club, which is handy." The directors try their best not to take their staff too far from home. Arthur O'Reilly notes: "We're still doing a small bit in Dublin, including a one-off development in Foxrock, but in general we really are trying to keep it as local as possible. This means all the lads get to work in their own locality and it also allows us to use subbies from the surrounding area - Mountnugent, Virginia and Ballyjamesduff, so we can keep nearly all the employment local as well." They've recently acquired land in the two nearest towns - Oldcastle in County Meath and Ballyjamesduff - and have developed houses there. Orkan Properties' developments in Oldcastle include Lough Crew Hills and Ardfrail Court - a mixture of detached, semi-detached and apartments. In Ballyjamesduff, a development of 18 detached houses called Broad Meadow was completed on the Virginia Road. A number of one-off houses have also been constructed in the general Mountnugent/Munterconnacht catchment area. An imminent development in Mullagh has sparked a tremendous degree of excitement and interest. Orkan Properties has purchased a magnificent site in the expanding Meath border town and will begin developing a scheme of 50 houses there in April. This development will be called Rose Hill, Mullagh and will comprise a generous mix of high-quality detached, semi-detached and townhouses. These will be developed to a very high standard on a superb elevated site overlooking the town and the demand for these properties - located in a prime setting at the heart of a rapidly-developing area that retains all the advantages of tranquil living within close proximity of major towns and also convenient to the metropolis. The houses will be sold through Martin Shortt Auctioneer, a man who actually played a key role in encouraging Orkan Properties to become active as a developer in the Cavan area in the first place. Though Arthur O'Reilly is directly associated with the Mountnugent club and his underage teams regularly come up against Mullagh opposition, he is genuinely hoping that the Rose Hill development will have a positive knock-on effect for local gaels: "Hopefully it will help bring some youth back to the area and help the underage club in Cuchulainns. It should definitely bring more families into the area and there should be a spin-off effect from that…" Arthur lined out at corner back on the Mountnugent side that famously eclipsed Belturbet in the 1988 Cavan JFC final. He had just returned home to Ireland for the first time and modestly reckons the main reason he made the starting XV was that "we had the bare pick". He goes on to add: "That was a good bunch of lads and they played with great spirit. We were rank outsiders and it was a nice victory for the club." Mountnugent repeated the success in '92 but things have been quiet in terms of silverware on the adult front ever since. Arthur (whose son Barry plays for the U12s) was involved at backroom level with the first team in the not-so-distant past and is currently over the U16s. He reveals: "Numbers in the area dropped and the club went through some lean years but we have some nice young footballers coming through now and our players are starting to get recognition at county minor and U21 levels. "To me, the club is making tremendous headway with lots of exciting talent coming through. A lot of groundwork has been done and hopefully we'll reap the rewards of that. Sean Reilly is a great chairman and he has a wonderful committee behind him. A few new faces are starting to appear in the club. They are coming through at U10 and U12 level and this is encouraging." As time goes by, other clubs in the vicinity and the county in general should benefit from Orkan Properties' strong commitment to local development. Tweet

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