The Monaghan County Board has recently opened a new training centre for all their county teams. The Main Contractor on the project was Francis McGuigan of McGuigan Builders and he spoke to us about the development, while his son Padraig chatted about Clontibret's success in 2006. Although the official opening of the new Training Centre at Cloghan, Annyalla, Co Monaghan has been planned for some time next year, the keys of the facility were recently handed over by Francie McGuigan to the County Board Chairman John Connolly, whose drive and enthusiasm got the project to this advanced stage. In accepting the keys John Connolly described the occasion as a milestone and not only from the County Board point of view but for him personally and he complimented the contractors and subcontractors who had worked under the supervision of Francie to bring the project to the stage where it is now ready for use. He congratulated the main contractors McGuigan Builders and Prunty Pitches for the excellence of their work and in welcoming all of the guests he described the new centre as a great facility for everyone involved in the whole spectrum of Gaelic games activities and as such it could be seen as the implementation of the new integration policy that is the future for the GAA. Francis McGuigan stated that, when approached by John Connolly to act as project coordinator he was convinced that John's enthusiasm and determination was exactly what was required to see this project completed. His brief was that the pitches were to be completed first season and the dressing rooms and all other facilities to be completed second season. This made my job challenging and interesting and I am delighted that the development was completed in time and within the budget. It is now very rewarding to see our county teams making full use of the excellent facilities. The County Training Centre consists of five pitches, two of which are fully flood lit and state of the art dressing rooms, GP room, office accommodation etc. With access from the new Castleblayney Clontibret by pass, making it totally accessible to the centre, promises to be a hive of activity in the years ahead. This development was certainly not just about a few people. There were many involved along the way. These people deserve a special mention. CS Pringle Architects, Castleblayney provided an excellent design and achieved planning. Prunty Pitches did and excellent job and where meticulous in their efforts to create a facility to be admired for many years to come. Monaghan Electrical under the management of Michael Treanor and Damien Carragher designed and installed the flood lighting to a very high standard. Eammon Scullion carried out the contract of ball stoppers, goal posts and netting, also a high standard. Gareth Sullivan, Clontibret designed the dressing room complex which has been highly complemented by all concerned. McGuigan Builders were nominated by Monaghan County Board to carry out the construction of the complex along side Monaghan Electrical and Brendan McMahon who provided the mechanical and electrical contract. Francis McGuigans' many years in the construction business made him an ideal candidate to oversee the project. McGuigan Builders are currently working on a number of developments including Retail Park Castlebalyney, Industrial Park, Newgrove, Monaghan, housing development in Monaghan, various contracts for the private sector together with ongoing contracts for the Department of Defence, Justice and Education. Francis is a life long member of the Clontibret GAA club and is a member of their development committee of which they endeavour to improve their facilities on an ongoing basis. Clontibret are with out doubt one of the top clubs in County Monaghan having achieved success in all grades and particularly 2006, completing the year, winning the senior championship. Padraig McGuigan has been part of the side that has brought success back to the club on a regular basis and he admits that the dedication a club player must give is on a par with that of a county player. "The club season can run from one end of the year to the other. We started training back in January and following our run in the Ulster club championship, it has been a long hard season." Clontibret continued their winning streak after the county final with a win over Antrim side Cargin in the Ulster club quarterfinal, which set up a glamour tie against Armagh kingpins Crossmaglen in the last four. Following a close contest, it was Cross' who emerged victorious but only by a solitary point after a brave display by the Monaghan champions. The year may be over for Clontibret but they can look back on the campaign with pride and set about defending their title next year with great confidence. "We won the league last year and knew that we were good enough to win the championship this year. We have some excellent footballers and hopefully we can win some more titles in the near future," stressed Padraig. Having represented his county at minor, under 21s and senior level. Padraig began his football career at St Mary's National School, Clontibret under the coaching skills of Sean Mulligan. In 1994 he was awarded juvenile player of the year in Monaghan. In1997 he was honoured to be captain of the Monaghan County minors and was also awarded Monaghan's minor player of the year! In the same year he captained the McRory Cup team at St Macatrans College. In 1999 he was corner back on the Monaghan Under 21 team that won the Ulster title. He played for his native Clontibret O'Neill's at all levels with great success and still hopes to win back to back senior championships. "Playing with your County is a great honour and something to be proud of, but it takes great dedication to give the full commitment to the county and not every player can do that" he added. The talented forward admits that he was disappointed to see Monaghan relegate in the National League, but believes that they will return to form in 2007. "They were very unlucky to be relegated as they ran some of the top teams very close, but it is a very young side and they will learn from that experience. Hopefully, they can have a good run in Ulster, they have been fortunate to get a favourable draw." Padraig works with Bennett Construction, one of the country's biggest building firms and his role as Site Engineer takes up a lot of his time, although he admits that being based so close to home is a help. "I'm on a site in Dundalk at the moment, which is good for travelling home for training and matches. However, there are times when work takes priority." "We are working on a massive development her at Dundalk IT, which involves the construction of a hotel, student accommodation, restaurant, office block, sports hall, theatre and retail park. The development has been ongoing for the past 18 months and work is set to continue over three and a half years meaning Padraig will be able to give his full commitment in helping Clontibret defend their championship title in 2007. Tweet

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