Stand by your County

If Francis Whelan of F&M Engineering entered the Bank of Ireland competition ŒWhat would you do for your county?¹ at championship time, he¹d be a certainty to scoop top prize because he built a new stand at Wexford Park. Beat that!

While the Government and the FAI remain at loggerheads over the proposed new National Stadium, the GAA has kept its head down, safe in the knowledge that it boasts facilities which is the envy of all other sporting organisations in the country.

Croke Park is one of the finest stadiums in the world, while county grounds throughout the country have been upgraded in the latter half of the nineties and supporters of the National Games have been provided with facilities that their patronage deserves.

Wexford Park in Wexford town has been no exception; it’s currently undergoing a facelift which incorporated the construction of a recently completed new stand. The company responsible for the project is F&M Engineering and, as always, when they’re involved, it’s a job well done.

“We were delighted when we secured the contract for the new stand because we had fought hard for it,” remarked company director Francis Whelan. “We have done work for the GAA before, development of club facilities etc. but nothing on as big a scale as this.

“We started construction at the beginning of February last year and the project was completed by May. It has worked out well and everybody is happy with the final product.

“The stand is the full length of the field and 22m deep. It’s well designed, small, neat and tidy and spectators will have a great view because there are no obstacles in the way.”

The new look Wexford Park will certainly provide supporters of the Model County with a stadium they can be proud to call home. “It will be one of the finest stadiums in Leinster, the facilities they have there are excellent. Wexford Park is to Wexford supporters what Croke Park is to the GAA, and it reflects the strength of the Association in the county. I believe it is the Co. Board’s intention to officially open it this summer once the pitch has been relaid.

“The GAA is on the up at the moment, there’s no doubt about that. They’ve put a lot of effort into upgrading their facilities countrywide. They had taken a back seat for a while but have since come out fighting against the competition brought about by the increase in soccer coverage on the television. The development of Croke Park is a fine example.”

F&M Whelan Engineering was established in 1983 by Francis and his brother Martin and is based in Rathangan. It provides employment to twenty-two plus sub-contractors and Francis is pleased to report that the sea of commerce hasn’t been too rough of late.

“We’re absolutely flat out at the moment, everyone involved in the construction industry is. It’s a sign of the times, long may it last.”

St. Anne’s (home of Wexford football star Scott Doran) is the local club. Francis was a selector with the senior football team in 1999 but unfortunately they received their marching orders in the second round of the championship. The fortunes of the club’s hurlers, on the other hand, is a different story.

“We won the intermediate football title in 1990 and have been senior ever since. We didn’t have much luck last year. The hurlers, however, won the intermediate last year, beating Adamstown in the final, so we’ll be up senior in both codes next year.

“The hurling will probably be the priority. We have a very good team and three of the lads, Donal Berry, Franny Simpson and Darragh Ryan are currently pushing hard for a place on the Wexford championship starting XV. It’s fair to say that the club is on a high at the moment.”

In his day, Francis captured an U21 county football souvenir with the club. He wasn’t lucky enough to experience championship glory on the hurling field. He donned the county jersey at juvenile, minor and U21 levels in football. His son, Fergus is following in his footsteps, albeit at the small ball code.
He was a member of the Model County minor hurling panel which reached the Leinster decider last summer. Kilkenny beat them after a replay on a scoreline of 2-13 to 1-11, before Tipperary shut the back door on them in the All-Ireland semi-final.

As regards the Wexford senior hurlers repeating the heroics of ‘96, Francis insists new manager Joachim Kelly must instill ‘inner belief’ into the players if they’re to contemplate a return visit of the Liam McCarthy.

“From looking at the standard of club hurling within the county last year I’d have to say that the talent is definitely there. They must, however, believe in themselves, recapture the spirit which was there in ‘96 under Liam Griffin. A lot of it is psychological, the talent is there, if they believe they can do it, then they will do it. Hopefully, we’ll have something to celebrate this September.”

Offaly proved to be the rock on which their championship aspirations perished in last year’s Leinster semi-final. Former Offaly star Kelly has replaced Rory Kinsella at the helm and Francis, and all at F&M Engineering are keeping their fingers crossed that his appointment could herald a new dawn for Wexford hurling.

They’re scheduled to renew acquaintances with the Faithful County on June 18th at Croke Park in the provincial semi-final and, given Joachim Kelly’s involvement and the recent history between the two counties, it’s a game which is sure to generate much interest.

“There’s no doubt about it, Offaly, as always, will be a hard team to beat. But, as I said earlier, I’m confident we have the talent and we owe them a couple of defeats. If we do manage to get over that obstacle we’ll be in the Leinster final which means we’ll qualify for the All-Ireland series at the very least. After that who knows, anything can happen. But first things first, we have to get over Offaly.”