Kilmainhamwood GFC will soon boast a superb new all-weather training pitch, thanks partly to a generous contribution from the Thorntons Recycling group, who have opened Ireland's biggest Indoor compost facility in the area. Kilmainhamwood Compost, Ireland's largest fully enclosed composting facility, has donated 14k to support the construction of a new all-weather pitch for Kilmainhamwood GAA club. The new pitch, measuring 50m x 25m, will facilitate year round training at the club, and will be particularly useful for drills and training in ball management and tactics. It will also be used to host games and tournaments for underage players. John Keogan, chairman of Kilmainhamwood GAA, said about the generous gesture from Kilmainhamwood Compost: "We are delighted to receive this support. We are hoping to have the pitch constructed and open by Spring 2008, and their assistance is greatly appreciated. The pitch is a milestone development in the history of our club and will make a fantastic contribution to the training of players. We are particularly excited about the opportunity to focus on underage player training. We hope everyone in Kilmainhamwood will make use of this pitch, and recognise its value as a local amenity." Tom Mc Donnell, manager of Kilmainhamwood Compost added: "The all-weather pitch is an exciting development and a great facility for both the club and the local community. We are committed to the local community here in Kilmainhamwood and are delighted to lend our support to this development." Kilmainhamwood Compost is a Thorntons Recycling company. Thorntons is one of Irelandís most successful recycling firms, and recently invested 6 million to develop the new compost facility in the north Meath village. The company installed the most advanced technologies and environmental systems at the purpose-built state-of-the-art facility, which produces Class 1 compost for use in Ireland's agriculture and horticulture sectors. The facility will process 20,800 tonnes of biodegradable material annually. Kilmainhamwood Compost is fully licensed by the EPA and the Department of Agriculture, employing six people directly and using many services from the local area. Established by Padraig and Carmel Thornton in 1979, Thorntons Recycling currently employs over 270 people at its three recycling centres in Dublin; Kill, County Kildare; and Dunboyne, County Meath. The facility at Ballynalurgan, Kilmainhamwood started production on September 14 2006, offering Thorntons Recycling the capacity to process biodegradable organic waste in relation to the brown bin facility which some waste management companies are rolling out. "We are very happy with the level of service we're providing here in Kilmainhamwood and Thorntons are hoping to roll out a brown bin service of their own in the near future," notes the facility manager. Though Tom is a Louth man, hailing from Knockbridge, home of 'the Brides', he feels very much at home in Kilmainhamwood as he's a member of the local Kearney family. His mother Sally Kearney was born reared and married in Kíwood and uncle Jimmy worked all his life in Gypsum Industries - just a stoneís throw away from the new compost facility. "I feel really at home in this part of the world," Tom admits. The facility can also process the waste from Thorntonsí food run from hospital Canteens, Hotels, restaurants, kitchens etc - a unique facet of the operation as the company has actually designed its own specially-adapted lorry to collect these materials. The composting process takes seven-eight weeks from the time the materials mainly food waste and brown bin waste - are brought to the facility. The end produce is high grade compost which can be used in horticulture, landscaping, agriculture, land reclamation and peat replacement programmes. When did they select Kilmainhamwood as venue for their state-of-the-art compost facility? ìThorntons were looking for a site to set up a facility to divert biodegradable waste from landfill," Tom begins. "McGill Environmental in Cork have a number of similar plants in Cork and America and they showed an initial interest in coming up to Kilmainhamwood to set up a facility. They had bought this site and secured planning permission and EPA licensing, but then decided to sell it on. So, effectively, what we bought was a ready-made site." It worked out well as itís an ideal site, in a rural setting, with the processing taking place indoors in a controlled environment. The locals have been extremely supportive of the facility. "We weren't aware of any planning objections or anything as that process was carried out before we bought the site. We commenced with the building work and we were welcomed by the people of Kilmainhamwood. We have very good neighbours and we treat the local people with total respect. We have an open-door policy and members of the public or councillors or the EPA can come in and inspect the operation any time they wish. Weíre fully transparent and we are very happy with our progress so far." The facility has no impact on the environment as it is fully-enclosed, with all the air byproduct going through a bio filter and deodorizer. Indeed, the process is actually beneficial to the ecosystem in that compost of an extremely high grade is produced, which can in turn be used to put life back into soil. With interests in both the north and south of the Royal County, Thorntons Recycling has a prominent presence in Meath today. The company believes in supporting the communities that sustain it and this has culminated in a huge show of goodwill to the Kilmainhamwood GAA club. Tom explains how Kilmainhamwood Compost came to contribute towards the clubís new all-weather surface: "Once we moved in, we were keen to bind some links with the locals and the GAA club is an integral part of the fabric of the locality. The club was an ideal beneficiary. We spoke to the committee and they told us that they were hoping to develop the all-weather pitch which could be used for training, ball management, tactics and underage tournaments. We told them weíd like to help out and we made the donation towards the completion of the new pitch. "This new pitch is a great asset to Kilmainhamwood. It's an exciting development and will be of tremendous value to the local community as a whole. They're hoping to open it in the first half of next year and people are excited about the options it will open up for the club, particularly the prospect of providing improved underage training in the area." Tweet

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