Doubts cast on multi-million-euro Mayo GAA centre of excellence project

THE proposed Mayo GAA Centre of Excellence in Bohola faces mounting uncertainty.

Sports Minister Patrick O’Donovan has poured cold water on the county board’s hopes of significant exchequer funding providing the bulk of the funds for the project, instead stating that ‘government can’t be expected to carry the can' on these projects.

At last week's Mayo GAA County Board meeting, officials informed delegates of the early-stage challenges of the multi-million euro project, admitting that the €15 million price tag was little more than a 'loosely put together estimate', there is no planning permission in place yet and no firm budget for construction.

Vice-chairman Michael Diskin told delegates the development was “very dependent on exchequer funding” and warned the project would 'fail' unless a planning application is successfully secured.

He outlined nine to 12 months for that planning application to be submitted.

However, Minister O’Donovan, speaking in the county just days later, dismissed any notion that government funding could be counted on at this stage.

The minister said: “To be quite honest about it, we don’t have a scheme. I don’t have an application process.

“I don’t have an amount of money. We don’t have the money, and we won’t have the money.”

He went further, stating: “Everybody in every parish and every four crossroads in Ireland expects the government to provide the bulk of the funding for everything. That’s just not possible.”

The comments come as Mayo GAA unveiled updated timelines for the project, which was formally launched at last December’s county convention following the generous donation of a 40-acre site by UK-based businessman and proud Mayo supporter, Bill Durkan.

Mr. Diskin revealed last week that a topographical survey only recently quoted will only now begin to determine the location of pitches, parking and clubhouse infrastructure. With drainage challenges on the waterlogged east Mayo site already well-documented, officials acknowledged ‘very little development’ will occur for at least 12 to 18 months.

The site, it has emerged, suffers from high water tables, deep peat patches, and the need to raise large sections of land near the roadside by up to a metre.

Each pitch will require an intensive dual-drainage system, potentially making groundwork particularly complex and costly.

With planning approval set to be sought in 9 to 12 months’ time, no firm costs, and no guaranteed state support, questions are now being asked about the viability of the project and whether the Centre of Excellence could become another cautionary tale in the long history of GAA infrastructural ambition.

Mayo GAA will be confident, however, that via Cairde Maigh Eo fundraising they will be able to meet funding targets, as Sports Minister O’Donovan has called on sporting bodies to source funds elsewhere and not rely so strongly on LSSIF funding.

“Governments can’t carry the cans on this,” he said. “Local authorities need to step up. National governing bodies need to step up.”