Round Tower GAA Club celebrated success at last night’s The Echo Amateur Sports Awards. The club won the Development of the Year Award at the awards ceremony that took place in the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, December 13th. The club won the award for the historic and magnificent development at its Monastery Road grounds. Thanks to all club members and the wider Clondalkin community for their support of this state-of-the art development that will bring benefits to the community for generations to come. Our submission to the Echo, which outlines the development involved, is provided below.
Round Tower GAA Club Monastery Road Development
• Floodlit all weather synthetic playing surface
• Floodlit playing pitch
• GAA Skills wall
ALL WEATHER SURFACE
2012 was a year of significant and momentous importance in the 128 year history of Round Tower GAA Club. On February 25th Round Tower GAA Club’s Under 9 hurlers became the first team from the club to play on the newest and most modern sporting facilities in Clondalkin and wider beyond.
The Under 9s played on a state-of-the-art 95 x 65 metre GAA approved all-weather synthetic surface surrounded by floodlights, enclosed fencing and a netting system. The facility is occupied night and day by the club’s 45+ teams, who take to the pitch to train and play our national games. Those benefitting from the playing facilities include boys and girls from nursery level, to adult fathers and mothers 35+ years of age, with teenagers and adults at all age levels also developing their skills and fitness. Tens of thousands of persons from across Clondalkin and visiting clubs have enjoyed the benefits of playing on this exceptional pitch.
PLAYING PITCH
The all-weather surface is just one element of a €700,000 development Round Tower GAA Club embarked upon in 2009. The club has redeveloped its grounds on Monastery Road to deliver state-of-the art playing facilities that any club in Ireland would be proud of.
Just as 25th February was a date of historic significance for the club, Sunday 25th November was also a milestone in Round Tower GAA Club history. The club’s senior footballers took to a new playing surface that was a distant cry from the previous surface which suffered from subsidence and drainage issues. The senior footballers were the first club members to play on a sand/soil-based playing surface that has been created to deliver one of the finest grass playing surfaces in GAA circles. The playing pitch had been three years in development and a state-of-the art drainage system ensures the pitch is properly irrigated and water is removed in a timely manner. The pitch will, in the near future, be complemented by floodlighting to enable evening matches and training and will be enclosed with fencing to enable comfortable viewing for spectators.
SKILLS WALL
The development at Monastery Road also features a 23 metre long skills wall that is integrated into the all-weather pitch and provides a double-sided surface capable of being used from the all-weather pitch and from grass. This facility is used by coaches to develop close ball control skills and enable hurlers and footballers nurture their talent for the National Games.
COMMUNITY ENABLED
The site at Monastery Road has been part of the Towers scene for the last 25 years but lay idle for a number of years because of the surface being deemed unplayable due to the subsidence issues. The club decided it must utilise the site in the heart of Clondalkin village and held a series of meetings with members to explore the ground’s potential and seek their support.
This outstanding €700,000 development has been developed through sustained effort and fundraising of Round Tower GAA Club members and the extended Clondalkin community. Club members, supporters and the wider community have raised in excess of €110,000 to complement grants from the National Lottery and the Leinster Council of the GAA. Fundraising is continuing to raise the necessary finance to deliver the fencing and floodlighting for the grass playing surface. Members continue to give generously towards the project and further fundraising will help see this historic development fully completed.
This community enabled development will bring massive benefits to the community of Clondalkin for decades and generations to come. It has already hosted family fun days and is regularly used by local primary schools. Round Tower GAA Club is planning to host a series of football and hurling tournaments involving local schools which will be run by the club’s Games Development Officer, who continues to promote GAA to young people.
The club already boasts 600+ playing members. It will continue to nurture, foster and develop the talents of footballers, hurlers and camogie players from Clondalkin and further beyond and the exceptional facilities in Monastery Road will act as a fulcrum for the mentors, players and supporters of the club. It is set to become one of the most important and pivotal sporting facilities in Dublin for decades to come and will bring health and social benefits to future generations in Clondalkin. It is, in our opinion, very worthy of the Development of the Year award.
