Could this be the future home of Westmeath GAA? Plans for a new state-of-the-art 26,000 capacity, EUR40 million GAA stadium on the outskirts of Mullingar were unveiled at a special Midlands Gateway investment conference held in the town last September. The proposed stadium, which is still very much on the drawing board, pending the sale of Cusack Park, which has been the county's GAA headquarters for over 70 years, would be located on a 50-acre site at Robinstown, not far from the St. Oliver Plunkett's hurling club grounds. The stadium's close proximity to the N4 dual carriageway would make it easily accessible to all GAA supporters. It is envisaged that the new stadium would form the centrepiece of a major sporting facility proposed for the large greenfield site which would also include a regional GAA 'Centre of Excellence' comprising several training pitches and other indoor and outdoor facilities. There are also plans to relocate Mullingar Greyhound Stadium to the site. According to Westmeath GAA's new development officer and former county secretary Paddy Collins, a definite decision on the new stadium is still some months away and would be contingent on the sale of Cusack Park, which has attracted the interest of property developers due to its location in the centre of Mullingar. "We have been working away quietly behind the scenes on the new stadium," he said. "At that information meeting last year, there was unanimous support for the new stadium among the clubs. It was agreed that the county management committee would push ahead with the project. "We will be reverting back to the clubs when we have a concrete proposal to put to them." New county board chairman Tom Farrell said the key to any move away from Cusack Park would be for Westmeath GAA to be "provided with a turnkey new 26,000 capacity stadium, complete with full training facilities." He added: "We badly need new training facilities for our county teams, and shouldn't be relying on clubs to make their pitches available to us at this day and age. Our members can rest assured that we'll only do what's in the best interests of Westmeath GAA. We'll keep them informed and if the move does take place, it will only be on their terms." Westmeath county manager Danny McLoughlin was one of a number of high-profile speakers at the investment conference, and he expected work on the construction of a new road to open up the site to commence sometime this year. However, GAA fans may have to wait up to 10 years for the completion of the 'campus'. Tweet

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