Sunday May 4th last saw the official opening of the Monaghan county committees' new county teams training centre at Cloghan. The newly appointed Ard Stiurthoir of Cuman Luthchleas Gael, Paraic Duffy, expressed himself happy to be on home soil to perform the official opening by unveiling a plaque at the main door to the dressing rooms complex. By John P Graham The initial decision to develop a county teams training facility was taken back in 2003 after that particular property at Cloghan had been identified as the most suitable. Seven parcels of land had been inspected before this particular farm was suggested as suitable by local man Emmet Flanagan who now manages the centre. All relevant decisions were taken, planning was approved and following two years intensive work the centre was first used for county teams activity in November 2006. Since that the finishing touches have been put to various aspects of the development and when all that was completed it was decided that Sunday, May 4th was the most suitable day for an official launch. The weather too played its part with the formalities being conducted in summer sunshine which made for a great air of celebration and goodwill. The occasion was also marked by a senior football challenge game between Monaghan and Down which the visitors won comfortably. The result though has to be seen in the context that Down fielded a near full strength team while Monaghan fielded a completely reserve team. The five pitch centre with a dressing room complex that includes four dressing rooms and all ancillary facilities including a kitchen and a meeting room as well as office space cost in the region of 2.3 million but one million of that was realised by way of a government grant that was announced at the end of 2007. The initial purchase price of the property was funded exclusively by the clubs with the understanding that they would not be asked to contribute towards the development costs. The occasion saw the chairman, secretary and county committee delegate of all the clubs being invited as guests along with a number of public representatives including Margaret Conlon TD and Senator Francie O'Brien. Co Council chairman Gary Carville was absent on council business in Luton but sent his good wishes. Former GAA president Sean McCague was also among the guests as was Danny Murphy, secretary of the Ulster Council, Martin McAviney, treasurer of the Ulster Council, the officers of Monaghan county board and representatives of the main contractors. Following the official opening the premises was blessed by Rev John Flanagan and prior to the start of the senior football challenge game between Monaghan and Down a plaque was unveiled by Rose O'Rourke dedicating the primary training pitch to the memory of the late Paddy O'Rourke. County board chairman, John Connolly, in welcoming the guests to Cloghan spoke of the historic occasion that it was for Monaghan county board and outlined the background to the project. The initial step was taken when Aidan Quigley was chairman of the board when he set up a special committee under the chairmanship of Liam Stirrat with the brief of trying to identify properties that would be suitable for the development of a multi pitch training complex. Seven properties in all were visited with the decision finally coming down to Cloghan after it had been inspected by Joe Pat Prunty of Prunty Pitches who had gone on to win the contract for the ground development. He spoke also of the funding arrangements and paid particular tribute to the clubs for their decision to the fund the purchase price of the original property, the scheme that have been put in place will be completed by most of the clubs this year. "It was a courageous decision by the clubs to embark on this because clubs had commitments themselves but they saw this as the way forward and I want to pay tribute to them for the manner in which they have met their commitments in that regard," Said the county chairman. John Connolly also paid tribute to Croke Park and the Ulster Council for the funding they had provided, mentioning in particular the initial purchase grant that had been made available through the good offices of former president Sean McCague. He made special mention also of the "300 Scheme" that had been organised by Declan Flanagan and mentioned too a substantial personal contribution from Mackie Moyna of Dublin. It had he said been "a source of concern that it appeared for quite some time that government funding would not be made available to the project despite the fact that it was providing facilities for the youth of the county and further a field but in the end all of that came right when the then Minister for Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, announced a grant of 1 million towards the cost of Cloghan development. "I was absolutely delighted when I got the news" he told the guests "and I want to thank John O'Donoghue and all the members of the Oireachtas from the County, Margaret Conlon TD and Senator Francie O'Brien as well as the other public representatives who made representations and did everything they could to help secure the funding." He had special words of thanks also for his vice-chairman Seamus Coyle for his work as a member of Monaghan County Council in facilitating various aspects the development at various stages. John Connolly then went on to pay tribute to the contractors who carried out the work on the various stages of the development singling out for special praise and thanks Francie McGuigan, Clontibret who was appointed as the overall manager of the project. "Francie was my eyes and ears here from the start and he has done a fantastic job and through his work we now have facilities of the highest calibre. Francie's own company McGuigan Builders secured the contract for the building of the dressing room complex and it too was completed on schedule and on budget which is a further tribute to Francie's organisational ability." He went on to make special mention of Monaghan Electric for the very high standards that they had set with all the electrical installations especially the floodlighting "and I have to pay a special tribute to Michael Treanor for all his help and all his work, some of which was done in a voluntary capacity. Prunty Contracts did the work on laying the pitches and we were fortunate that we had a man of the calibre of Joe Pat Prunty who over saw the project along with his son and who did such a fantastic job." The county committee too was fortunate to be able to tap into the goodwill of GAMA who were the main contractors on the Castleblayney bypass for their gesture that saw them complete the surfacing of the car parking area, something that would have cost in the region of 75,000 to 80,000 if the County committee had to pay for that themselves, and the chairman made special mention of Peter Coyle of Monaghan Harps who was an engineer with GAMA and who was a central figure in organising that goodwill gesture. The benefits of having a facility such as Cloghan became immediately apparent and the centre is already a focal point now for all county teams activity and training and indeed for much more because it is used by the ladies board and the camogie as well. The Coaching Committee has also been using the facilities extensively as has the Ulster Council and with the level of use that had built up for the facilities by the time of the official opening it is difficult to know how the committee coped when Cloghan wasn't there. A big bonus is that it has reduced the demands on clubs to make their grounds available for county team training but overall it gives an inner pride to all of the players at all levels that top-class facilities are being made available for them to prepare to represent the county and that acts as encouragement and motivation for them. With the completion of Cloghan Monaghan County Committee now has two valuable pieces of property as they are also the owners of another property at Mullaghdun on the outskirts of Monaghan town which is at present being used by the Fergal O'Hanlons club on a short term agreement. The occasion was made even more important by the fact that the new Ard Stiurthoir Paraic Duffy was performing the official opening ceremony. Paraic Duffy, as well as being a native of the county had been involved with Monaghan County Board in various capacities including a five-year stint as chairman and he was described by the county chairman as "the best qualified person to take on the most important job in the GAA." John Connolly also paid tribute to the late Paddy O'Rourke and said that it was with great pride that the county committee had decided to dedicate the main training pitch to his memory. He went on to outline Paddy's career both as a player and an administrator and thanked him for giving his blessing to the project in his final months on this earth. The chairman also paid tribute to the members of the Social and Awards committee who had organised the official opening and had produced a special souvenir booklet to mark the occasion. "These magnificent facilities are a statement of the strength of the GAA in Monaghan," Ard Stiurthoir Paraic Duffy said when performing the official opening ceremony of the new County Teams' Training and Development Centre and it was he said "an honour for him to perform the official opening ceremony." He thanked the county committee for affording him the opportunity to do that and expressed himself extremely proud of what had been achieved. "Great credit must go to the county committee and the many individuals who have brought this scheme to fruition" and he had special words too for the club's for their outstanding contribution. "This is a proud day for the association in the county and it has been a great team effort. There may have been a few sceptics at the start but everyone bought into the scheme and that team spirit has pervaded the whole programme that has seen the development of this magnificent centre. Having facilities like that will help the GAA to meet the challenges that lie ahead. It will help to meet the needs of schools and has already shown what it can do in that regard both at county and provincial level and everyone should take great pride in what has been achieved. Everyone in Monaghan can take great pride too in what has been achieved over the years and this facility is just a further manifestation of the high standards that have been set in the county. The level of club facilities in Monaghan is superior to almost every other county and I see this as a progression of those standards and something that will be the envy of most other counties. Monaghan can be justifiably proud of what its clubs have done and they can be proud too of what the clubs have achieved since the GAA was first launched in the county backing it 1887. This centre is a statement of the strength of the association in Monaghan and it will help the GAA to remain as the foremost brand in the county. "Today though must not be seen as an end but rather as a beginning and with the fierce drive for perfection that there is in Monaghan I will not be surprised if I see a full-size floodlit 3-D pitch in the county in the not too distant future. This centre can help the Association to achieve so much because it is a training centre not just for the county football teams but for the hurling teams, camogie and ladies football and having facilities like this can contribute to success because it will help all our teams to perform at their best." A development on the scale of Cloghan though did not happen by chance but is the result of a lot of work by a lot of people and a huge financial investment as well. Paraic Duffy went on to pay tribute to the government for the support they had shown for the project through the awarding of a grant of 1,000,000 but he saw that money as a great investment for the government that will yield a huge return by helping the GAA to provide facilities and continue to deliver sporting opportunities to the community. Paraic Duffy then turned his attention to matters that are close to his heart, the new Strategic Plan and the 125th anniversary celebrations of the Association. He went on to say that the 125th anniversary while being a great milestone will also include a programme of celebrations, 2009 must be seen as a year when the GAA sets new challenges for itself. Chief among those challenges will be the programme of integration that he sees as being very important on the way forward. Another initiative will be the launch of a new Strategic Development plan that in itself will highlight challenges that the GAA will face in the coming years and set targets for the association at all levels to ensure that it will still be the foremost sporting brand in the country. Monaghan has been at the forefront in maintaining that position over the years he told the guests "and I am confident that they will continue to do that in the years ahead." He concluded his address by referring to the late Paddy O'Rourke in whose memory a plaque dedicating the primary training pitch to his memory was being unveiled. "I am so pleased that Paddy O'Rourke has been recognised because he was a truly great Gael and we will never see his like again. Paddy always wanted things done well and he would never settle for anything other than the best so I know he would be happy with what has been achieved here." Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy spoke of the historic occasion that was taking place and spoke of his delight at being there to represent the Ulster Council at the official opening. In offering apologies for Council chairman Tom Daly's inability to be present due to a previous commitment he said however that the chairman would "want to be associated with the tribute that this project deserves. To transform farmland into the facilities that you have here today took people of courage, commitment and vision and you can be even more proud and it is a great credit to everyone for undertaking this scheme because all of you are from Monaghan." He described the centre as "a games orientated development that will provide top class facilities for all county teams. Committees are charged with responsibility for putting measures in place for county teams and these facilities here are now part of the games structure in the county. These are visionary premises and while this project got support from a number of sources the project was deserving of everything it got and I am delighted to see the scheme here officially opened. The facilities here are a tribute to the officers of the county board and in that I include all of the officers over the period of this development from the first day of vision until today. The contractors too have to be congratulated on the excellence of their work but if I can encapsulate this whole scheme I feel it is representative of the respect we owe to the people who made this possible for their commitment, dedication and their loyalty overall to the association. "That loyalty has always been ever present in Monaghan and will continue into the generations yet to come. This is a tremendous day for the GAA and it is great to see so many young people here because they are the future of the games but in going forward they will be aware of who made this all possible." The Ulster Council secretary concluded his remarks by paying a tribute to the late Paddy O'Rourke whom he described as "a great, great man" and "whose service to the GAA was of legendary proportions." He had words of praise too for former county board chairman Peter Sherry who was present and he congratulated him on his President's Award which he said was a tribute to Peter for his outstanding service over many years. "This centre" he said in conclusion "is developed for county teams. The GAA itself is a team and while we may cross swords now and again on the field of play and in other ways it is the GAA that still binds us all together." The name Cloghan means "stepping stones" as Gaeilge and with the official opening the stepping stones are firmly in place and it is now up to everyone to make maximum use of the "ford of the future". Cloghan will be a testament to those whose foresight developed it but it cannot be seen as a monument. It must be a place of activity where those who will keep the games alive and central to Irish life, will get the tuition and training to achieve that. If success and silverware follow that will be a bonus. Tweet

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