Down Club Hurling & Football

[SamFever]

For me this is a positive move although posters are right to ask questions and seek assurances. If more people had done that when the Burrenbridge fiasco was being steamrolled through we may be in a different place.

I think the greater Newry area posters must remember that our county ground is in your patch. We all put our hands in our pockets to pay for it. It's very handy for you while the rest of us have to travel for county and big club games. The argument about Dublin based players is a bit of a red herring- how many ? Two ?

It's the same distance from Belfast to Ballykinlar as it  is to Newry so the growing greater Belfast clubs are fine.
It's about the same for the Mourne clubs and a lot more convenient for greater Castlewellan and greater Downpatrick. It will be much handier for the Ards clubs and the surfaces are excellent for Hurling. So wobbler your arguments on location don't stack up.

If we get the right people in charge of the project- and from what I hear, they are- then it's an opportunity of a lifetime. The symbolism potential is not lost on any of us. Get de Valera's grandson up to open it and the wheel has turned full circle.

At no point have I suggested the Centre should be in Newry.

It's not an opportunity of a lifetime.

There are many, many positive angles obvious to Ballykinler. If you want to highlight and promote those,  I can't and won't disagree.

But stacked up against it is one overarching negative, its location. Ballykinler was strategically chosen as an army base due its inaccessibility. A single road in, a single road out. Nothing around it for miles.

Please do not try to suggest that it will somehow magically become accessible should Down GAA relocate to it. It does you no favours.

Unless there is some current viable alternative-move on and support the thing.

[Mourne Rover]

This has turned into a lively debate, with plenty of contributions from committed people who want to see the GAA prosper in Down and have different ideas about the best way to proceed. It is probably accepted by everyone that we need a centre of excellence and a number of locations have been suggested.

Funding and planning issues have yet to be finalised but there are pretty firm indications that both can be addressed, so the priorities are probably availability and accessibility.

Ballykinlar clearly is available and  it is reasonably accessible for our main football strongholds in the south of the county, for our hurlers on the Ards peninsula and for the other clubs with the greatest potential for growth which are Bredagh, Carryduff and St Paul's.

The village may have been regarded as off the beaten track when the barracks was built in 1901 but road traffic links have improved a fair bit since then.

Tyrone is an obvious comparison for us and it is a county with four main towns. Garvaghey is certainly convenient for Dungannon and Omagh, but the journey to both Cookstown and Strabane is around 30 miles or slightly further than the distance between Newry and Ballykinlar. If Tyrone players can comfortably manage those sort of trips, we should be able to do so as well.

The suggestion that we should wait and see if something better comes along is very similar to the arguments put forward against the former Castlewellan High School site when it was effectively offered to us at a knock-down price in the early 1990s. Nothing happened, and it was over a decade before the Burrenbridge scheme appeared and collapsed in well documented circumstances.

We have now waited for almost another decade for something else to turn up and we could left in the same position for a very long time to come unless we act decisively now.

[thewobbler]

MR what I guess you're trying to say is that when you've a big county and put something right in the middle of it then some people still face a long trip.

What I'm trying to say is that when you have a big county and stick something to one side of it, then the majority of people face a long trip.

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SamFever, "currently viable" isn't as important as getting it right. If we go ahead with Ballykinler, it'll be Down's home long after anyone here has left this earth. It just won't be practical to take this on without investing heavily in it, and once that's done, it's a lifer. As it's should be.

To be plain and bluntly honest about it, I believe that even if the county build the best facilities in the country, it wouldn't have the impact on Down football as building half the facility in the right location. You can tell me it's only a few miles from Clough til you're blue in the face. But its a bastard of a trip from newry, kilkeel or belfast on crap roads full of tractors and cyclists.

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Re one of the earlier posts about the 2-3 Dublin based players. That kind of forgets that both business people and tradespeople ply significant trade in Dublin or Belfast. Down footballers included.

[Mourne Rover]

Fair enough Wobbler, you are fully entitled to disagree with those of us who believe that, for a number of reasons, Ballykinlar is our best option. Where do you feel we should put our centre of excellence instead ?

[6th sam]

I think DownGAA is being proactive in informing clubs re this Ballykinlar opportunity.
Many of wobbler's points are valid and have to be taken into consideration, and alternative options put forward. However in the absence of any other COE options on the table , this Ballykinlar proposal should be at least explored .
However , I would question those that correlate COEs with success when there is little evidence to back it up.
The excellent owenbeg facility  has been operational for over 20 years and success hasn't followed .
Whilst Tyrone was more successful immediately before the Garvaghey era.
As long as we have the right mix of personnel involved in the decision making , taking all factors into account around facilities Development , we will optimise the results from that development of facilities.the challenge is deciding what best meets our future needs and resources, and then drive it forward.
Exciting times!

[Pascal Brennan]

Are they talking about some land beside the current GAA facilities or part of the actual barracks which has swimming pools, gymnasiums, sports pitches etc already on site?

[johnneycool]

Are they talking about some land beside the current GAA facilities or part of the actual barracks which has swimming pools, gymnasiums, sports pitches etc already on site?

Right, asked a few questions about this to a man in the know.

The land (30 acres approx) has more or less been offered to Down CB initially on a 25 year lease on favourable terms, (which I thought was quite short) with a right to buy at agricultural rates. I get the impression that the British Army want shot of it and have heard that from other non GAA sources as well.
Based on the access issues that blighted Burrenbridge I was also told that Down CB seeked reassurances that this wouldn't be an issue with Ballykinlar and those were given but we'll no doubt hear more on that once a planning application is submitted.
They've also to buy 2 to 3 acres of a local farmer for ground running onto Ballykinlars current pitch at current agricultural rates again. You'd always be concerned about the old ransom strips.

I suppose all in it mightn't take too much of an outlay from Down CB / the clubs to get something resembling a centre of excellence up and running as its pretty flat ground anyway with a sandy base for good drainage. The initial aim is four full size pitches, floodlit I presume.

I think this was all made common knowledge to club delegates at the last CB meeting.

[SamFever]

  I think we should build it somewhere between's Wobbler's gaff and mine. No more discussion please.

[Lazer]

Personally - I am not too bothered about the location, Obviously it is not perfect, but no location is going to be.

As someone who regularly drives to Ballykinlar, the road from Clough to Ballykinlar is fine when you get used to it.

From Belfast, it is reasonable to get to, either via Downpatrick or via Clough.

It's also a lot closer for the hurling folk in Portaferry area than other county pitches

Yes, Castlewellan is preferable, but we can't wait forever for the perfect site.

[Targetman]

Good win for the point tonight,Bryansford dominated most of the first half and only went in at h-t a point up, complete opposite in the second half where warrenpoint were the dominant team and ran out comfortable winners, well refereed ( have to praise them an odd time)

[elk]

Thought the score line flattered the Point slightly as the Ford missed some good goal chances.C Maginn and mc Kibben were well marshalled by R Magee and C Mc  Cartan.

[Smurfy123]

What time is the big meeting taking place at tomorrow?
The town and country know about it at this stage

[Hedgehunter]

What time is the big meeting taking place at tomorrow?
The town and country know about it at this stage

Elaborate???

[Smurfy123]

It's the talk of the county
You need to get out a bit more

[thebar]

It's the talk of the county
You need to get out a bit more

If you knew that much you'd know what time it was on at