Westmeath GAA clubs delight in €1m boost
Westmeath GAA clubs are set to receive a cash injection of €1m courtesy of JP McManus.
The Limerick born businessman is donating €1m to every county for investment in all codes of the GAA.
The €1m from the JP McManus Charitable Foundation will be divided equally between every football, hurling, camogie and ladies football club in the county.
Westmeath County Committee Chairman Frank Mescall welcomed the news and it came after a challenging week for the county as clubs learned major fundraising will be required in the coming years to meet rising costs for Westmeath GAA and to fund a centre of excellence.
"It's unbelievable, really, in the best meaning of the word," commented the chairman.
"Not too many people in the world would do this, let alone in Ireland. It's wonderful news for all the clubs in the county and it will be a very welcome boost."
The €1m will be divided between all the football, hurling, camogie and ladies football clubs in the county, ensuring around €14,500 each.
"It's brilliant for all the clubs and they are working extremely hard to raise finance. All clubs are included in the gesture; it will give every club a boost," he said.
This year the clubs of the county rowed in behind a successful fundraiser for Westmeath GAA (the Quid Game) and in the coming years, clubs will be expected to do the same. Mr Mescall assured club at last week's County Convention that they will not face a levy as the county tries to cope with costs of over €1m alone for county teams. It is hoped that with this injection of funds, clubs will be in a position to throw their support behind a similar fundraiser in 2024.
"Every county Ireland is delighted with this and we are no different in Westmeath," he added.
The chairperson of Westmeath LGFA Geraldine Giles said that the money donated by Mr McManus is a “Christmas bonus” that the county's 29 ladies football clubs were not expecting.
“It is difficult enough to fundraise at any time. I think it will give them a foundation going into the new year. I doubt if any of the ladies clubs will look anything other than kindly on it.
“We had our county AGM last Monday night and it was fantastic. We had a full turnout of clubs and then to see this come down the track the next morning is just phenomenal.”
In 2018 McManus gave €100,000 to every county board in the country.
One club who will certainly welcome the news is Mullingar Shamrocks, who have just confirmed that they have purchased 20 acres of land for the development of additional facilities was the big news item of the week. The club thanked Ray Smyth and Dónal O’Donoghue for their work in making it all possible; Kevin and Helen Lynch for their willingness to help out the club by agreeing to the sale of the land and club chairperson, David Nohilly and secretary, Garrett Doyle for their work to secure the purchase.
“It’s a huge boost and a very generous offer at this time of year. We welcome the funding; we have significant utility costs of around €2,500 every month. And we aim to lodge a planning application early next year and start work on our development project by October,” said Mr Nohilly.
Two new full-size all weather pitches, a training pitch, a new club house and sports hall, plus 300 car parking spaces are planned. The development will link the club to Robinstown where a second entrance will open up and it secures their future in the Springfield/Robinstown area.