Grant for GAC pitch at Portglenone

This follows a £50,000 grant from Council to assist with land purchase for the development. The grants are part of the Council’s Enabling Scheme which permit capital grants to sports clubs and community organisations.

Welcoming the grant, SDLP Cllr. Declan O’Loan said: “It is good to see such a substantial grant coming from Council to Roger Casement’s GAC Club. Apart from a ritual objection from the TUV, it was agreed by the whole Council.

“I have been very involved with this project from the outset and am delighted to see it coming to this stage. It is of course very beneficial to the Club, but I want to point out that the grant represents great value for the Council also.

“The Club will still have to provide the bulk of the money itself and, while GAA Clubs are great fund raisers, that is a big task. That means that a new pitch is obtained at relatively little public cost. By comparison, the Council recently paid three quarters of a million pounds to build a pitch at Clough and the Council carries all the future maintenance costs.”