LIMERICK hurling star Cian Lynch has described Dungannon's new ground as better than anything in how own county.
Lynch was guest of honour at the official opening of the first phase of the Eoghan Ruadh club's facilities at Donaghmore Road. He spoke of his admiration for the club's efforts to promote the game in a predominantly footballing county.
"It's better than any pitches I have seen in Limerick, even our own club pitch in Patrickswell," he said.
"You would expect dominant hurling counties to have great pitches, but we don't. Coming up here is a benchmark for us and I think we should have stuff like this, that we should be able to undertake the type of development that this club is doing."
Lynch hailed the massive community effort which has enabled the club to have a ground to call its own for the first time since its foundation in 1944.
"They have great pride in doing what they're doing and everybody has come together in a community effort," he added.
"It's brilliant for me to see that, to see clubs up here in Tyrone and other clubs in the north being able to push on and make themselves known. We're led to believe that football is dominating sport up here, but to see a club, a community and a parish coming together and doing things like this is unreal."
The perimeter walkway was officially opened last weekend, but the pitch will not be ready for use for another year.
Club chairman Tomás Colton is hoping to stage a major challenge match to declare the playing surface open: "We're hoping to have a special opening, with a Galway-Limerick or Galway-Tipperary challenge game," he said.
"They play each other regularly in pre-season challenge matches and it would be great to bring it up here and maybe have a gala dinner as well. It would be great for the hurling fraternity, which is growing all the time, around mid-Ulster especially."
Colton declared the official opening of the community walkway and associated facilities as a special milestone in the history of a club that now has a place to call home.
"It's a major milestone for us," he added.
"We have been begging and borrowing pitches for 71 years, mostly using Dungannon Clarke's, but we have been using any pitches within a 20-mile radius for home games. Now, we have our own home base and it's great to have achieved that. It will be almost 12 months before it is handed over. It's a full-size sand-carpet pitch, with surround fence and ball-stops and state-of-the-art floodlights."
The facility has been developed on parish-owned land on a long-term lease and Colton expressed his appreciation to the parish priest.
"We're thankful to Dean Curry and the parish for leasing the land to us, the Department of Social Development, who came up with the funds, and Dungannon Council also," he said.
"It's very much a community facility. The walkway gates will be open to the public every morning at 8am and closed at 10pm, with the lights on during the winter months. It has been very much a community effort. We're called Dungannon Eoghan Ruadh, but we have people from a 15-mile radius coming in and hurling with us".
