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Derrys County Centre Of Excellence Owenbeg To Be Used By Derry City Soccer Club

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Tomsmith here

I just wonder what the views of the Northern Irish posters ( Particularly Ulsterman ) are in relation to Derry City LOI Club availing of the facilities of training at Owenbeg . I see a lad from C lones who plays for Derry city in an article in the Sunday Indo is very joyous with the arrangement where the soccer chaps who are paid professional train during the day in Derrys Gaa centre of excellence the Gaelic fellow who work come to train in the evenings.
I wonder do other GAA clubs offer ones grounds to a soccer Club, or what is the views on such arrangement .
It would be interesting to hear the views of the people in power on this thorny issue

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4006 - 10/02/2025 02:41:55    2590326

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Replying To tomsmith:  "Tomsmith here

I just wonder what the views of the Northern Irish posters ( Particularly Ulsterman ) are in relation to Derry City LOI Club availing of the facilities of training at Owenbeg . I see a lad from C lones who plays for Derry city in an article in the Sunday Indo is very joyous with the arrangement where the soccer chaps who are paid professional train during the day in Derrys Gaa centre of excellence the Gaelic fellow who work come to train in the evenings.
I wonder do other GAA clubs offer ones grounds to a soccer Club, or what is the views on such arrangement .
It would be interesting to hear the views of the people in power on this thorny issue"
How is it a thorny issue?

I'm sure Derry FC are paying for it, and a fantastic facility is getting used and the GAA in Derry are making a few quid for it. Win win all round

DundalkGael (Louth) - Posts: 925 - 10/02/2025 23:51:27    2590523

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Not sure it's really feasible from October to March for Grass pitches as they will tear up quickly and end up in poor condition come the start of the club season in April.
Most Football and GAA clubs already have over demand for grass pitch usage from their own internal age groups especially with most clubs now having both girls and boys age groups competing at all levels.

The only real solution is shared flood lit astro turf pitches for October to March sports. But astro turf is too expensive for any individual club to finance on its own so the Government, GAA, IFA/FAI l, RFU and schools need to come together to plan a nationwide rollout of asto turf pitches. 1 solution is to Astro turf and flood light existing school pitches so schools would get usage during the day and clubs gets usage in the evenings/night.

Tirchonailabu56 (Donegal) - Posts: 28 - 11/02/2025 10:04:34    2590545

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I see Finn Harps have approached Donegal about sharing with the centre of excellence at convoy.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2860 - 11/02/2025 11:16:15    2590558

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "I see Finn Harps have approached Donegal about sharing with the centre of excellence at convoy."
Great too see

I know a local GAA club in town who allowed the local soccer team to have 7 a side competion on their field with teams coming from all over Leinster to play soccer on the Gaelic pitch. My son was playing and it was a fantastic day bringing much needed funsa to both codes

I know Louth have used the gym and indoor pitch in Oriel Park many times over the last decade.

DundalkGael (Louth) - Posts: 925 - 11/02/2025 11:33:06    2590569

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Replying To DundalkGael:  "Great too see

I know a local GAA club in town who allowed the local soccer team to have 7 a side competion on their field with teams coming from all over Leinster to play soccer on the Gaelic pitch. My son was playing and it was a fantastic day bringing much needed funsa to both codes

I know Louth have used the gym and indoor pitch in Oriel Park many times over the last decade."
Need more municipal facilities in the country. Inflation has driven the costs up a lot in construction. The Scandinavian countries are good for sharing with other Sports.

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2860 - 11/02/2025 12:25:34    2590576

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An issue with the notion of shared astroturf facilities is that a GAA pitch is almost twice the size of a soccer pitch, and therefore almost twice the cost.

Typical GAA pitch = 140m x 85m = 11,900 sq. metres
Typical soccer pitch = 100m x 65m = 6,500 sq. metres

Wexford County Council has provided a full-sized floodlit astroturf pitch for soccer. When asked why they weren't including GAA in the project, the answer basically boiled down to "we couldn't afford it".

And that doesn't just apply to the astroturf itself. Floodlights for hurling need to be more powerful (and are therefore more expensive) than lights for either gaelic football or soccer, so that would be an added cost as well.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2693 - 11/02/2025 14:03:22    2590600

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "An issue with the notion of shared astroturf facilities is that a GAA pitch is almost twice the size of a soccer pitch, and therefore almost twice the cost.

Typical GAA pitch = 140m x 85m = 11,900 sq. metres
Typical soccer pitch = 100m x 65m = 6,500 sq. metres

Wexford County Council has provided a full-sized floodlit astroturf pitch for soccer. When asked why they weren't including GAA in the project, the answer basically boiled down to "we couldn't afford it".

And that doesn't just apply to the astroturf itself. Floodlights for hurling need to be more powerful (and are therefore more expensive) than lights for either gaelic football or soccer, so that would be an added cost as well."
The facility up in Fethard in Tipp is excellent. Probably was expensive ok.

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14821 - 11/02/2025 14:33:53    2590609

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Replying To Viking66:  "The facility up in Fethard in Tipp is excellent. Probably was expensive ok."
It is. Pity we don't all have a Fairy Godfather like the man behind that one!

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 2693 - 11/02/2025 14:52:17    2590617

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "It is. Pity we don't all have a Fairy Godfather like the man behind that one!"
For sure!!!

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 14821 - 11/02/2025 16:11:34    2590632

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "I see Finn Harps have approached Donegal about sharing with the centre of excellence at convoy."
Sharing? That's not really the accurate word for what they are proposing is it?

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3424 - 11/02/2025 18:12:58    2590652

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "Sharing? That's not really the accurate word for what they are proposing is it?"
Really , you seem to know. They were proposing a facility share which has been ruled out. https://www.donegallive.ie/news/gaa/1726357/facility-sharing-agreement-with-finn-harps-just-not-feasible-mary-coughlan.html

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2860 - 11/02/2025 19:10:47    2590656

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "Really , you seem to know. They were proposing a facility share which has been ruled out. https://www.donegallive.ie/news/gaa/1726357/facility-sharing-agreement-with-finn-harps-just-not-feasible-mary-coughlan.html"
They were proposing to use a GAA facility. If i move into your house that you built or bought would i be sharing it?

Technically i suppose. Anyway, good sense prevailed.

BarneyGrant (Dublin) - Posts: 3424 - 11/02/2025 20:49:57    2590667

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "Really , you seem to know. They were proposing a facility share which has been ruled out. https://www.donegallive.ie/news/gaa/1726357/facility-sharing-agreement-with-finn-harps-just-not-feasible-mary-coughlan.html"
Tomsmith here from Cavan

As far as I remember one Soccer Clubs , banned a GAA player from playing with his local GAA club in a senior County final. some years ago So the Ban was alive and well with a GAA player who was on a soccer clubs books playing GAA

tomsmith (Cavan) - Posts: 4006 - 11/02/2025 22:28:52    2590673

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Replying To BarneyGrant:  "They were proposing to use a GAA facility. If i move into your house that you built or bought would i be sharing it?

Technically i suppose. Anyway, good sense prevailed."
Yes you would since I would be there..

FoolsGold (Cavan) - Posts: 2860 - 11/02/2025 23:18:52    2590678

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Win win.

Nice few quid in rental for Derry and Derry City have a place to train

Mayonman (Galway) - Posts: 1912 - 12/02/2025 08:47:40    2590692

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Replying To tomsmith:  "Tomsmith here

I just wonder what the views of the Northern Irish posters ( Particularly Ulsterman ) are in relation to Derry City LOI Club availing of the facilities of training at Owenbeg . I see a lad from C lones who plays for Derry city in an article in the Sunday Indo is very joyous with the arrangement where the soccer chaps who are paid professional train during the day in Derrys Gaa centre of excellence the Gaelic fellow who work come to train in the evenings.
I wonder do other GAA clubs offer ones grounds to a soccer Club, or what is the views on such arrangement .
It would be interesting to hear the views of the people in power on this thorny issue"
I don't think Ulsterman is actually from Ulster, a few years ago I noted and flagged a commonality of wording and spelling which suggested one person had a large number of profiles on here purporting to be from a wide variety of places.

Ulsterman (Antrim), Banisteoir (National), Cbar (Mayo) and a few others are the same person, there are a number of other profiles too.

It seems its actually Carlow poster behind them all.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1266 - 12/02/2025 09:19:01    2590701

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Replying To FoolsGold:  "I see Finn Harps have approached Donegal about sharing with the centre of excellence at convoy."
I read news that Finn Harps are in the early stages of exploring the possibility of renting a few different places for training on a temporary basis, rotating their training schedule if needed, including Finn Valley Athletic centre and Donegal GAA Centre of Excellence and some other local football club grounds. I don't think they are exclusively seeking the Donegal Centre of Excellence in Convoy, as it is unlikely to be available for all of their training needs.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1266 - 12/02/2025 09:46:02    2590710

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Replying To Commodore:  "I don't think Ulsterman is actually from Ulster, a few years ago I noted and flagged a commonality of wording and spelling which suggested one person had a large number of profiles on here purporting to be from a wide variety of places.

Ulsterman (Antrim), Banisteoir (National), Cbar (Mayo) and a few others are the same person, there are a number of other profiles too.

It seems its actually Carlow poster behind them all."
If that is indeed the case it is very sad carry on.

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2156 - 12/02/2025 10:01:14    2590712

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Replying To Commodore:  "I don't think Ulsterman is actually from Ulster, a few years ago I noted and flagged a commonality of wording and spelling which suggested one person had a large number of profiles on here purporting to be from a wide variety of places.

Ulsterman (Antrim), Banisteoir (National), Cbar (Mayo) and a few others are the same person, there are a number of other profiles too.

It seems its actually Carlow poster behind them all."
That's a loaded statement Commodore and an opinion that you are entitled to. I do not have any problems with your opinion at all, however, it's the suggestive part of your post that doesn't sit well with me, can I ask you to confirm / deny if I am that Carlow poster, feel free to reply, if you decide not to reply I will take it that I am that "Carlow poster that is behind them all."

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3109 - 12/02/2025 13:31:25    2590753

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