Connacht Gaa Centre

[Rossfan]

Whatever - I still think it would have been far more beneficial if the money spent on this had been divided among the Counties to fund their own centres.
That way each County could do things to suit themselves and not be beholden to Mr Prenty or the Connacht Council blazer bucks.
For instance a million€ would do us just fine for our proposed Oran centre while the Laythrums would have appreciated a similar amount for their Annaduff set up.

[Syferus]

Whatever - I still think it would have been far more beneficial if the money spent on this had been divided among the Counties to fund their own centres.
That way each County could do things to suit themselves and not be beholden to Mr Prenty or the Connacht Council blazer bucks.
For instance a million€ would do us just fine for our proposed Oran centre while the Laythrums would have appreciated a similar amount for their Annaduff set up.

Which I already said may have been a better way to spend the money right now, but both options have valid uses that don't really impinge on each other.

Who knows if we could have got the funding split five ways? Everyone knows the politics that go hand-in-hand with this sort of money and the officials may well have wanted a big show-piece to get the press to fawn over before they'd agree to giving over the money? That's not a Connacht GAA problem, but a societal one.

[Lar Naparka]

Whatever - I still think it would have been far more beneficial if the money spent on this had been divided among the Counties to fund their own centres.
That way each County could do things to suit themselves and not be beholden to Mr Prenty or the Connacht Council blazer bucks.
For instance a million€ would do us just fine for our proposed Oran centre while the Laythrums would have appreciated a similar amount for their Annaduff set up.

Which I already said may have been a better way to spend the money right now, but both options have valid uses that don't really impinge on each other.

Who knows if we could have got the funding split five ways? Everyone knows the politics that go hand-in-hand with this sort of money and the officials may well have wanted a big show-piece to get the press to fawn over before they'd agree to giving over the money? That's not a Connacht GAA problem, but a societal one.

I'd say that if all concerned knew the recession was coming, neither option would have been been acted on but that's history now; The Bekan Basilica is up and running and eagerly (desperately?) awaiting pilgrims.
In the present economic climate it's going to be a struggle to pay the bills and every cent that the centre generates will be needed to keep it open.The same would be the case if the money involved had been split five ways and each county had been made responsible for the upkeep and loan repayments involved. But, given its size and range of facilities, this centre can earn money in ways that a county one could not.
And there had to be loans and not outright grants in this case. I'm still awaiting details but I see no way in which either the Connacht or the Central Council could each have €5m in ready cash to hand over for this initiative- or any other of a similar size.
Like I mentioned before, I couldn't see the Central Council giving each of the Connacht counties €1 million apiece to develop their facilities without a backlash from every other county in the land.
No one on this topic so far has mentioned that the services provided will have to be paid for but it's a no-brainer that the Bekan centre or five separate centres either will have to pay their own way as well as meeting the repayments involved.
Tobin talks of the facilities being used by third level colleges and by primary and secondary schools.  He spoke of staging blitz competitions involving twenty or thirty schools at a time and those are not run under the auspices of the county boards.
You can be sure that all of this has been carefully studied and evaluated before he opened his mouth.
Educational tours are also on the agenda and and since every kid in the province is likely to go on at least one such tour a year, this could mean a lot of extra revenue for the centre. The Bekan authorities. will be looking outside the province also for business; he even mentioned the airport and the potential to cater for overseas parties. All in all, I feel the provincial centre was never intended to cater solely for the needs of county and club panels.
My guess is that it will be touted for business conferences and outdoor concerts and every sort of activity that could yield a few bob.
In short, the Connacht Council will be going into the entertainment business in a big way and while they will be hoping that every club in the province will use the centre, they won't be relying on them alone to make the centre pay its way.

[GalwayBayBoy]

Whatever - I still think it would have been far more beneficial if the money spent on this had been divided among the Counties to fund their own centres.
That way each County could do things to suit themselves and not be beholden to Mr Prenty or the Connacht Council blazer bucks.
For instance a million€ would do us just fine for our proposed Oran centre while the Laythrums would have appreciated a similar amount for their Annaduff set up.

Which I already said may have been a better way to spend the money right now, but both options have valid uses that don't really impinge on each other.

Who knows if we could have got the funding split five ways? Everyone knows the politics that go hand-in-hand with this sort of money and the officials may well have wanted a big show-piece to get the press to fawn over before they'd agree to giving over the money? That's not a Connacht GAA problem, but a societal one.

You can be sure that all of this has been carefully studied and evaluated before he opened his mouth.

No doubt. We've heard that before alright.

My guess is that it will be touted for business conferences and outdoor concerts and every sort of activity that could yield a few bob.

What? In Ballyhaunis?

[RMDrive]

There's been a few interfirms games played in it over the last while. Every little helps!

[North Man]

Folks, this is a similar concept to Owenbeg in Derry.
The only time club teams get near Owenbeg is if they need training facilities for Ulster Club.
Alot of club teams in Derry now have second pitches and floodlights so the club demand is light.
Owenbeg is used primarily by county teams, development squads, schools and underage blitz competitions.
It will be very intresting reading as to how many club teams use this Connacht facility within the first year

[Turlough O Carolan]

No doubt. We've heard that before alright.

My guess is that it will be touted for business conferences and outdoor concerts and every sort of activity that could yield a few bob.

What? In Ballyhaunis?

First the business folks looking for the conference will arrive in Ballyhaunis and if in Summer will be greeted with the smell of offal from the Halal factory. Then they will have to find Bekan which is a different place entirely. On asking for directions some local scratching their head will say: you must mean Bacon. Head out that way.

If Connacht Council can market this, then fair play.

[brianboru00]

LarnaParka - Are you for real?

Your saying this place needs concerts and conferences to pay its way??? Jesus wept.

What kind of conference exactly? Most major conferences take place in a hotel as they can provide accommodation also. Where are people going to stay if theres one at Bekan? or does John Prenty have a B&B?
And Central Council DO have 5million in cash and plenty more - thanks to excellent money management within the overall GAA family (Of course the Sun isn't going to do an exclusive on that!!!).

Educational Tours??? If you think schools are going to go for a jaunt to see Bekan on a day out - you're in cloud cukoo land.

[southsidejohnny]

Its in the middle of nowhere...are ye mad or what?

[rodney trotter]

Its in the middle of nowhere...are ye mad or what?

It has something in common with the Centre in Monaghan then, its in back of beyond.Cloghan- Monaghan,

Then again most places in Monaghan seem that way...

[North Man]

The Monaghan centre is on the main Derry / Dublin Rd Rodney, a fairly logical location i would imagine

[rodney trotter]

The Monaghan centre is on the main Derry / Dublin Rd Rodney, a fairly logical location i would imagine

Fair enough, Just googled it and its off the motor way yeah. Heard lots complaining about where it is situated for some reason.

[Hardy]

I'm always intrigued when I hear a place described as "remote". It's surely the epitome of a relative concept. Dubliners, of course, divide the country into two - "here" and "dowan da coontry" and everything that's not "here" is, by definition, remote. And it is, to them, fair enough. The strange thing is the the rest of the country seems to acquiesce in this geographical imperialism and some people consider the place where they live themselves as remote, as if they must live their lives by reference to the perceptions of people who live somewhere else.

That's with the exception of Kerry people, as evidenced by the observation of the Kerryman to his companion as he looked into the back gardens of houses while his train rolled through the suburbs of Dublin on his first All-Ireland excursion - "don't some people live very far away".

[Syferus]

I'm always intrigued when I hear a place described as "remote". It's surely the epitome of a relative concept. Dubliners, of course, divide the country into two - "here" and "dowan da coontry" and everything that's not "here" is, by definition, remote. And it is, to them, fair enough. The strange thing is the the rest of the country seems to acquiesce in this geographical imperialism and some people consider the place where they live themselves as remote, as if they must live their lives by reference to the perceptions of people who live somewhere else.

That's with the exception of Kerry people, as evidenced by the observation of the Kerryman to his companion as he looked into the back gardens of houses while his train rolled through the suburbs of Dublin on his first All-Ireland excursion - "don't some people live very far away".

Burst 'em Hardy!

Right on.

[Lar Naparka]

LarnaParka - Are you for real?

Sure am, bro. I sure am.
Ah feckit it anyway, I'm told I have an awful masochistic streak in me so here goes one last time.....

Your saying this place needs concerts and conferences to pay its way??? Jesus wept.

Actually, I'm not saying anything of the sort..
What I said was:
"My guess is that it will be touted for business conferences and outdoor concerts and every sort of activity that could yield a few bob."
Why do I think that way?
Because I listened carefully to what John Tobin had to say on the subject, that's why.
Around the 3.50 mark in that interview he mentioned that the centre had a lecture theatre and breakout rooms.
What are breakout rooms and what are they used for?
I'm strongly tempted to tell you to go ask my posterior but I'll refrain and suggest you should ask Mr Google instead.
Why would the centre have breakout rooms if they didn't plan to make use of them? Go figure.
Tobin also said the place had dining facilities for 250-300 people.
Frankly, I can't see the centre paying it way, in the early years at least and, equally frankly, I don't give a damn.
I'm totally against the trend in the GAA to drive players beyond the limits of human endurance while neglecting the very real issues of player burnout and general welfare.
However, I accept that Connacht has to go with the tide or else miss the proverbial boat.

What kind of conference exactly? Most major conferences take place in a hotel as they can provide accommodation also. Where are people going to stay if theres one at Bekan? or does John Prenty have a B&B?

I never mentioned "major" anything.
If, say, INTO members of any of the western districts wanted to hold a meeting, the centre could comfortably accommodate them. Same goes for the ASTI and the TUI. In such cases, the question of overnight stays would not arise.
You could throw (GAA) county convention and other trade union meetings as well and, really, the list is quite long.

For those attending who may wish to overnight, there are five hotels in the Knock area alone.There are lots of others in the surrounding towns; Claremorris, Kiltimagh, Ballyhaunis, Charlestown etc. etc.
Does Prenty have a B&B/ I couldn't give a damn if he had an assload of them!

Educational Tours??? If you think schools are going to go for a jaunt to see Bekan on a day out - you're in cloud cukoo land. 

Tobin referred to was the fact that the centre was geared particularly for primary schools and said they were already catering for fun days. He spoke of blitzes where up to 20 to 30 schools would be accommodated.
Twenty to thirty schools would mean at least an equal number of tour buses filled with school kids, grannies, mammies and maybe family pets as well. The fun would go on for hours. Do you have an idea of the amount of burgers and chips and ice creams and the likes that would be sold at the centre?
I happen to have a lot of experience of òrgnising such outings as I was a member of Cummann na mBunscol for decades and, in this instance anyway, I know what I'm talking about.
Can the same be said for you?

Educational tours?
Again, it was Tobin who introduced the subject not I and, once again, I've had me bellyful of them.
Since you asked, I don't think schools will go for a jaunt to Bekan.
But they certainly could include it in the itinerary as one of a number of places to visit.
It's standard practice to visit 4 or 5 places on such tours  and the kids are going to have to eat somewhere.
A meal and a tour of the place with a chance to mess about with some of the equipment and a kickabout on the indoor pitch would prove an irresistible attraction for every kid in the province and beyond. Think  of all the schools from Primary to Junior Cert level who organise whole school or even class tours al least once a year throughout the province and neighbouring counties.
At a conservative estimate, I'd say a meal at the centre and a gallop around the facilities would bring  in at least a tenner a head from those who would stop there.
Is it any wonder that Tobin and his colleagues place such emphasis on attracting schoolkids to the place?
Finally, I don't think I'm in cuckoo land.
Sure, if I was, I'd have met you a long time ago!