Football

Major development plans for Dungannon Clarkes and Aodh Ruadh

One of Ulster’s most famous GAA grounds is to undergo a major development scheme.

O’Neill Park in Dungannon will be transformed in a £1.5m project which features a community building and dressing rooms, along with a re-laid playing surface.

Thomas Clarkes GFC and Aodh Ruadh Ladies GFC have launched a fund-raising drive to finance the work, which is due to get under way later this year.

The Tyrone county board also has plans to upgrade the venue as its second county ground, with the addition of floodlights.

Clarkes chairman John McNulty said a community hub which will replace the existing clubrooms will be multi-functional and available to a side range of local organisations.

It will include a community hall, fitness suite, dance studio, meeting space and mixed changing areas.

“The first phase is the community hub in partnership with Aodh Ruadh and other community organisations. In particular St Patrick’s Primary School and the Gaelscoil,” he said.

“St Patrick’s Primary School has no gaelic football pitch, and the facilities that we currently have are not really suitable. We want to be able to cater for them, as we are the providers of gaelic football in the town.

“We want to develop the GAA within the town by way of the community hub, and to provide facilities for the voluntary organisations in the town.”

McNulty stressed the importance of the partnership with Aodh Ruad Ladies GFC.

“The ladies play an important role in the GAA within Dungannon, and this will give them something that they have invested in, and something that we can all share, and that’s a great target for us all.

“We all have daughters, sisters, friends who play dual sports, so we want to see the development of both clubs in this facility.”

The Dungannon clubs are asking the public to sponsor a brick or business plaque which will be placed in a prominent position in the new building. Details can be found on the club’s Klubfunder page.

“This is a unique opportunity for everyone to play their part in the construction of new facilities at O Neill Park,” McNulty added.

“Covid has changed everything for everyone, so we had to change our fund-raising plans and we decided to start our brick campaign. It has been well planned and it’s going well.”

The Clarkes chairman explained that the existing pavilion is a combination of three buildings that were constructed in successive decades, one in the late sixties, then another in the seventies and another in the eighties.

“They’re all on different floor levels with different entry points, and totally unsuitable for what we need.”

And a pitch that once hosted regular inter-county games is no longer fit for purpose.

“We plan to lift and replace the surface of O’Neill Park. It has been there for 70 years.

“The opportunity is there for east Tyrone to develop a modern ground which can cater for gaelic games 12 months of the year.

“The pitch is heavy, and once you move past September, if there’s any significant rainfall, it’s very difficult.”

Once a major venue for inter-county gaelic games activity and one of the most prominent grounds in Ulster, the Dungannon venue has lost much of its allure.

The third element to the development plan is the provision of floodlights.

Healy Park in Omagh is the only other venue in Tyrone with a high grade floodlighting system.

“We have been in negotiations with the Ulster Council and the Tyrone county board, who have plans for that in their five-year strategy, Raising the Red Hand,” said McNulty.

Healy Park, the number one venue in the Red Hand county, has had its problems, and badly needs a back-up ground when unavailable for important games at both club and inter-county level.

But a £1m scheme to upgrade the playing surface at Omagh, due to have been carried out last summer, has been put on hold due to the financial crisis facing the GAA as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The development of O’Neill Park would provide a viable alternative, and also add to the infrastructure a second floodlit ground capable of hosting major games.

Dungannon has not hosted a National Football League game since 2011, when Kildare visited the ground.