‘Mighty day for county’ as Centre of Excellence gets planning go-ahead

The Dermot Earley Centre of Excellence on the Racecourse Road in Roscommon Town has been given the green light by Roscommon County Council.

In a statement issued this evening, Roscommon GAA said it was delighted to learn that the local authority has granted planning permission to develop the major sports facility.

Chairperson, Brian Carroll has conveyed his gratitude to all those involved in reaching this monumental milestone: “I wish to thank Roscommon County Council for their guidance and information and the elected representatives of the Roscommon Municipal District for their support for the project.

“Finally, I would like to thank everyone involved within Roscommon GAA for their work and commitment in bringing the project to this stage. This is a mighty day for our county and is the start of an exciting chapter for Roscommon GAA,” said Mr Carroll.

Roscommon Municipal District Councillors today approved a material contravention of the Roscommon Town Local Area plan to clear the way for the provision of Roscommon GAA’s Centre of Excellence.

A small portion of the land designated for the large-scale sports training facility is sited within the existing Industrial Estate at Ballyboughan. These lands are designated for industrial use development in the Local Area Plan, and not normally permitted for a sports related development.

A material contravention of the Local Area plan was required to smooth the way for the proposed Dermot Earley Centre of Excellence, which is located to the west of Roscommon town centre at Ballyboughan on the Racecourse Road (N60).

At a special meeting of the Roscommon Municipal District this afternoon, all six councillors unanimously approved the material contravention to facilitate the granting of planning permission for the ambitious project. The support of four councillors, or a two thirds majority vote, was required to approve the resolution.

The Municipal District councillors are Councillor Anthony Waldron (Independent), MD Chairperson; Councillor Nigel Dineen (Independent); Councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice (Fianna Fáil); Councillor Orla Leyden (Fianna Fáil); Councillor Marty McDermott (Fianna Fáil) and Councillor Kathleen Shanagher (Independent). Each of the local representatives welcomed this major GAA project for the county.

The recommendation for the material contravention was proposed by Council Chief Executive Shane Tiernan. The approved resolution was one of the final key elements of the Chief Executive’s report which is recommending the green light for the project.

The new training facilities at the Centre of Excellence will comprise three full-size grass pitches, two astroturf pitches, warm-up areas, a seated spectator stand, and floodlighting. The development also includes a new amenity building - incorporating offices, canteen, gym and dressing rooms - a new maintenance building, a perimeter walking/running track, a ball wall area, car, bicycle and EV parking, an internal access road, and a new vehicular entrance and exit off the existing Industrial Estate road.

According to the planning application, the planned centre will be used for training and development from underage to senior level by both hurling and football, and will also be used by ladies football and camogie. Currently, Roscommon GAA is training more than 200 players every week at its temporary facility.

Roscommon GAA also notes that Hyde Park will continue to be the primary venue for all county games, and that the proposed development will primarily be used for county development teams from underage up to senior, with a maximum of 200-300 people at any one time.

In its application, Roscommon GAA said that the centre will not be used for competitive games, and the intention is that as well as Roscommon GAA teams, it will also be accessible to local schools for games development and be used by the wider community .