A breath of life for Columb Barracks
A large attendance was treated to a tour of Westmeath GAA’s new Performance and Training Centre in the old Columb Barracks in Mullingar on November 16, and all were suitably impressed with the facilities which will undoubtedly be of benefit to teams and individuals of all ages in every facet of Gaelic games in the Lake County.
TDs Willie Penrose and Robert Troy were in attendance, as were Westmeath senior football manager, Paul Bealin, and his hurling counterpart, Brian Hanley, together with representatives from handball, camogie and ladies football.
Indeed, almost every facet of society in the county was represented, on what was thankfully a dry and reasonably pleasant afternoon.
While the general public could wander around as they required, the main guide on the day was a former army officer, Tom Carr (better known as a Gaelic footballer of the highest calibre for Dublin and, more recently, as Westmeath minor manager), who chairs the Columb Barracks Development Committee.
Mr Carr brought the crowd round to the playing pitches (those of us of a certain vintage will recall playing soccer in what was always known as the Camp Field), the handball alley and the gym area.
Passers-by had the opportunity to watch mini-games taking place where, hopefully, some Westmeath stars of the future were on show. Established senior inter-county players could also be seen, fresh (and not so fresh) from their exertions in the well-appointed weights rooms.
Refreshments were provided by the county’s main sponsor, Berty Dunne of the Annebrook House Hotel, before and after a few short speeches by Sean Sheridan (County Board chairman), Michael O’Sullivan (on behalf of the Department of Defence) and Tom Carr.
Mr Sheridan spoke passionately of his pride in being appointed to chair the County Board, praising the board’s secretary James Savage for his endeavours in this and other projects. He also lauded Messrs Carr and O’Sullivan for their input, together with the other sub-committee members, all individually listed and thanked.
He emphasised that the centre of excellence would be open to all sports and talked in optimistic terms of its benefit to the youth in the county: “This is for young people - the future of Westmeath - but is driven by adults.”
In his witty address, Mr O’Sullivan (a native of Cork) applauded all concerned and wished maroon and white-clad teams every success on the playing pitches of Ireland in the years ahead. He talked of the importance of having development squads in counties such as Westmeath, recounting a conversation he had in 2011 when Dublin ended a 16-year famine by landing the Sam Maguire Cup. When a friend spoke of Dublin’s win being great for the GAA, Mr O’Sullivan said at the time: “What Gaelic football really needs is for Westmeath to win Sam.”
Mr Carr, who is rightly renowned for his emphasis on the need for ongoing strength and conditioning work for hurlers and footballers, continued on that particular theme before wrapping up the formalities with trademark articulacy, speaking of “little seeds” being developed in the new facilities and the hope that some day Westmeath can reach the pinnacle of all-Ireland success aided and abetted by the Columb Barracks’ facilities.
And so say all of us!