Major plans for the future of Tyrone GAA Centre at Garvaghey

A NUMBER of ambitious enhancements are being planned for the Tyrone GAA Centre as it prepares for the challenge of a second decade fulfilling the needs of the inter-county teams and the wider Gaelic games community locally.

Opened in 2013 by the then GAA President, John O’Neill, the centre at Garvaghey is renowned as being among the very best in Ireland.

At a cost of £7 million, all outstanding expenses associated with its construction were cleared more than a year ago.

But now the GAA in the county is planning for the future of the facility and has outlined key developments which the organisation feels are important for the continued progress of the centre, which is located between Ballygawley and Omagh.

Delegates to last week’s annual convention were told that possible extensions and additions to the complex are ‘increasingly necessary’.

These include adjustments in light of the imminent integration of the GAA, Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association in 2027. In addition, there are plans to advance the centre’s social capacity to cater for players, parents, families, spectators, walkers, and casual users.

One of the more significant plans is for the roofing of the 60×40 3G area, which the secretary, Mark Conway, of the Kildress club, said was a response to climate change and to the increased usage demands that will follow the integration of the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie association.

He said that there will also be a need to ‘weatherproof’ the Tullyhogue Fort area at the front of the building, which is constructed in a distinctive ‘Tyrone T’ format.

“Garvaghey may be running smoothly, and be in the very happy position of being debt-free,” Conway said. “But there will always be serious work to be done here and it is up to us as Tyrone Gaels to identify and then to do that work.”

He thanked all those associated with the maintenance of the facility, describing it as the ‘highest testament to them all’.

Mr Conway added: “Time after time, visitors to Garvaghey comment on how well the place is maintained and that’s why I’m confident in claiming that Garvaghey is still the best centre of its kind in Ireland.”