Kevin Lynch's Hurling Club in Dungiven is transforming into a completely autonomous entity, severing its restrictive ties with the local football fraternity. In a project that will render them totally self-sufficient, the hurlers have acquired their own pitch and are developing clubhouse facilities. This independent state is part of the vision of club chairman Brian McGilligan - an All-Ireland football winner with Derry in '93 but a hurling man to the core. In 1993, Brian McGilligan formed a formidable midfield partnership with Anthony Tohill as Derry captured the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time. Twelve years later, the former Oak Leaf County dual star remains as heavily involved in gaelic games as ever - as chairman of the progressive Kevin Lynch's Hurling Club in Dungiven. Brian played both codes with distinction for Derry in the 1980s and '90s, though it was the small ball code that always commanded a special place in his heart. He explains: "Hurling would have been my first game. I played right through at schools and underage levels and I wasn't too much into the football at that stage to be honest. At minor level, I wasn't interested in football at all! I played a lot of hurling with Derry and the highlight was probably winning an All-Ireland B medal in 1997." Amazingly, the Derry football team that Eamon Coleman led to the promised land in '93 was packed full of quality stickman, as Brian reflects: "When you look at that '93 team, it's interesting the amount of dual players we had. The McGurks, the Downeys, Tony Scullion and Kieran McKeever were all brilliant hurlers who chose football first as Derry is traditionally a football-orientated county. If that crop of players had given the same commitment to hurling, it might have been a lot different." Brian lets the thought hang in the air before breaking the heavy silence with a follow-up: "Derry would be classed as a football county that just fulfils its hurling fixtures. We've produced wonderful hurlers but they have never been encouraged to give the same dedication to hurling as football, as there's no real support or back-up structure in place. "Even now, we still have good lads coming through all the time, lads who are as good as anybody in the country if they get the right support from County Board level. "I remember one year we played Cork in the national league in Lavey and we would have beaten them but for a few strange refereeing decisions. They went on to win the All-Ireland that year, which shows just how good Derry could be with the right approach. I'm not saying we could go up and win All-Irelands, but we could certainly be a lot more competitive." Discrepancies also afflict club hurling in the Oak Leaf. In Dungiven, the hurling club has been forced to depend on their footballing counterparts for far too long, but all that is changing for the better. The club chairman notes: "Up until this year, both clubs used the one field but we have bought a bit of ground of our own and are developing it. We have forwarded plans to the planners for a pavilion. "Kevin Lynch's have always stood on our own feet as a separate club, but we were depending on the football club for favours and were unable to survive without them. We couldn't organise training or matches without their prior consent and it was definitely holding us back. I know we're all part of the one GAA family anyway, but it was frustrating that we had to check everything with them first and the whole situation became very restrictive. Within the next year we will become totally self-sufficient and Kevin Lynch's Hurling Club will then be able to move forward uninhibited." Kevin Lynch's are second in the all-time Derry SHC Roll of Honour, with 16 outright successes as opposed to Lavey's 17. They won three titles in the 'eighties, two in the 'nineties and have just completed back-to-back victories in 2003 and 2004. Between 1998 and '03 inclusive, the Dungiven-based club also won five senior hurling league titles out of six, underlining their standing as a true force in the county. In his second year as chairman, Brian McGilligan is convinced that the club's imminent autonomy will seriously strengthen their position: "It just came to the point where we had to do it. To be fair, the club and the local community have rallied around us and made it all possible. What timeframe has the club been working within? "We set a three-year deadline on having the field bought and paid for, which we've achieved, and we're now looking at a half-million-pound project for a pavilion and floodlighting. We're very excited about these changes but, at the end of the day, you can't forget about the main aspect of the club, which is success on the field of play. Ultimately, I would love to see Kevin Lynch's win an Ulster title. We have been close, but have come up against some very good sides. Our challenge now is to match those clubs. We have eight or nine lads on the county panel at the moment, so we have plenty of material to work with. "We've won two senior championships in a row, but Ballinascreen seem to have the beating of us in semi-finals and finals at underage level. However, we're a close second to them and have been more successful in taking it on to senior level. "Swatragh, Slaughtneil and Ballinascreen are really starting to show their colours at underage level and they're all threatening a breakthrough at senior level, so there are fresh challenges on the horizon, but we're up for those challenges. "We're up and running on our own and such a scenario would have been completely unheard of a few years ago. We have our own park, we can organise our training and we can bring teams up for weekends and stuff like that. We're in a stronger position than ever. "If we hadn't acted, we would have been dependent on the football club forever. We still could have had a hurling team, but it would've only been a token thing and we wanted to take things much further than that. The football and hurling clubs have their own unique aims and identities, so we have to go our own ways. The field should be ready by September and from then the strings will no longer be attached to the apron" The club boasts up to 200 members, including as many as 60 under 8s, who are extremely well looked after, with weekend trips etc. Kevin Lynch's is exceptionally strong at juvenile level, with teams at all grades from U8 to minor and a very bright future beckoning. Long term, Brian is hopeful that the development of Kevin Lynch's as an independent entity will prove beneficial to Derry hurling in general: "If you have good club structures, the county will benefit. All the clubs are doing the work. Ballinascreen have done the groundwork and have an excellent underage structure - it's only a matter of time before they win a senior hurling championship. Swatragh won their first ever county minor championship last year. There's an improvement across the board and the county team is already benefiting. "I'm not saying Derry will go up to Croke Park and beating Kilkenny, but with the same effort going into hurling as football, we can certainly become stranger than Antrim and Down. The era of the dual player is gone and we're developing a team of hurlers who don't play football, so Derry hurling is heading in the right direction." One can only wonder how big Brian McGilligan finds time to run his own business, BMG Joinery. Of course, he has plenty of help keeping the Good Ship Kevin Lynch's afloat - Owen Mullan, Niall Mullan, Eddie Friel and Michael McCracken do tremendous work at underage level, while recent-recruit Ryan O'Neill (a county minor selector) is also making a mark. And then there's 'the Big Show', Liam Hinphey, a man who could accurately be referred to as Mr Kevin Lynch's Hurling had his sons Liam Og and Kevin not opted instead to afflict him with the aforementioned soubriquet. One gets the distinct impression that this particular story is only in its early stages. Tweet

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