*Denis Hynes. Photograph: Joe Buckley
FAILURE TO progress plans for Frank Healy Park has been labelled as “embarrassing” by one of the most respected soccer coaches in the county.
Delegates to the Clare Schoolboys/Schoolgirls Soccer League (CSSL) AGM voiced their frustration with the lack of detail issued from the Clare District Soccer League (CDSL) regarding their plans to the develop Frank Healy Park.
In September 2024, the CDSL was allocated €410,656 to upgrade Frank Healy Park. The funding was issued under the Sports Capital and Equipment Programme.
Initial plans have been to develop an all-weather Astro on the county grounds but little progress has been fed back to clubs on where the project currently lies.
Seán Cregan of Connolly Celtic questioned, “is any of the €400,000 ours” to which he was informed it was not. “Did we lend them one of our grants,” he asked. Committee member, Cathal Jones stated, “We spoke about but didn’t consummate the marriage”.
Cregan then asked what did the CSSL do with grants it had been awarded. “We’re repurposing and drawing it down, we have to do something with it,” Jones advised. “I’ve presented to the CDSL on it, it is the same faces and same clubs bar one or two, it is us in the soccer community that it has been granted the money. Hopefully this year we will see a unity of purpose”.
Following further questioning from Cregan, the CSSL Treasurer Wayne Skerritt said they were paying Lees Rd between €10,000 to €12,000 per annum for pitch use. “If we marry the CDSL, we have the use of their training facilities and we’ll never have to use Kilmihil or Kilmaley,” Cregan responded. The Treasurer said the CSSL “get a brilliant rate” for Lees Rd, “I know clubs are paying twice what we pay, it is the only show in the town at the moment”.
“It is about time we have a home, it’s ridiculous,” Cregan stated.
His views were shared by Oscar Traynor manager Denis Hynes who felt, “It is embarrassing”. He added, “If we had a facility, we wouldn’t have to pay registration fees, we have missed the window”. He commended ongoing work by Mountshannon Celtic, Newmarket Celtic and Shannon Town Utd with ambition projects, Newmarket are trying to raise €1.2m, Hynes noted, “We have €400,000 and we can’t get around a table to discuss it, leaving a grant in Dublin and not activating it for seven to eight years, those days are gone”.
Raising the matter initially, Tulla Utd’s Denis Corry remarked, “there are a couple of us coming to these meetings for a long time, we’ve always had reasonable accounts but the bigger picture and it isn’t discussed countless times is what will be done at the minute, the CDSL have plans and have a grant obtained from the Government, what is happening, where is the movement and unity of purpose between the CDSL and CSSL to get something concrete off the ground”.
Chairman of the CSSL, John O’Malley told the AGM he spoke with Donal Magee six weeks ago, “I’m waiting for him to come back to me to move it on, I’m in favour of sitting down”. He continued, “I believe the county grounds should be developed from both the CSSL and CDSL, I’d love to see a development moving forward. We want to move on it and move it on, there’s a proposal where they were looking at going all weather at Frank Healy Park and putting out to get quotes. I’d love a situation where all county squads have the use of the Frank Healy Park”.
O’Malley said Magee’s election as CDSL Chairman in the summer has led to the CSSL getting use of the county grounds “far more regularly” for schoolboys and schoolgirls games plus National Cup fixtures. He felt there was “a willingness” existed for both the CDSL and CSSL “to move forward”.
