Mayo GAA chief allays club concerns over Centre of Excellence plan

MAYO GAA chairman, Mike Connelly, has allayed fears expressed by clubs that the proposed €5 million development at Lough Lannagh in Castlebar would not be entirely under the umbrella of the GAA.

He revealed that no financial burden would fall on any club to fund the project which is expected to take over three years to complete.

“Mayo County Council have their own plans for developing walks and other projects around the same site in tandem with the GAA development, but this is mainly a Mayo GAA development for badly needed training facilities for development squads in particular,” he said.

He stated the full details of the proposed development would be gone through in more detail at a press briefing later in the year but he was very clear that the project, which is in tandem with Mayo County Council, would be under the Mayo GAA banner.

He also said it was now time the GAA took the bold step and appointed a full-time commercial manager.

“ The GAA in Mayo is now big business and it is time that fund raising was handed over to a commercial manager as it has become too big for us to handle as a committee, as running Mayo GAA which has now grown so large, due in no small way to the success of the county in recent years”.

Meanwhile Mayo manager Stephen Rochford was given an extension of time to come up with a new backroom team.

Members of the county board executive, including the chairman, treasurer, secretary, vice-chairman and PRO, met with Rochford and, as this paper reported weeks ago, his backroom team has departed with Joe Keane from Crossmolina now the sole survivor.