Pictured is former Roscommon Footballer and Sigerson Cup winner with DCU, Cathal Cregg as he looks ahead to the Electric Ireland GAA Higher Education Championships Sigerson Cup final this Wednesday 12th February. Through its #FirstClassRivals campaign, Electric Ireland will continue to celebrate the unique alliances that form between county rivals as they come together in pursuit of some of the most coveted titles across GAA and Camogie.
By Cian O’Connell
Cathal Cregg expects the University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome to be operational ‘in the relatively near future’.
Camogie fixtures in the Ashbourne Cup took place on the pitch last weekend and Cregg, the Connacht GAA Provincial Coaching & Games Manager, is hopeful that the Dome will return shortly.
Cregg acknowledged the Dome’s importance to Gaelic Games in the province across all levels. “It was very disappointing; it was very unfortunate that the level of storm came,” Cregg says.
“A lot of work has gone into it in the past two weeks, to get it back. It was played on in the Ashbourne Cup final at the weekend, so we were delighted to get it back up and running.
“We don't have a timeline on it at the minute, but we hope to get it back up in the relatively near future. That is where we're at. It is obviously fully insured, we've to go through a process there, that will take a period of time, and hopefully rebuild at some point in the future.”
Connacht GAA Provincial Coaching & Games Manager Cathal Cregg. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Schools, juvenile, and inter-county activity has been hampered due to the damage caused to the Dome by Storm Éowyn. “The Dome being gone is a big hit a lot of the activities, particularly over the winter months that would be happening there, especially coach education stuff,” Cregg says.
“Some of the counties would have national school days where they'd have hundreds of kids playing. It has been a big hit in terms of the Dome being gone with that. Also, a lot of the schools competitions are coming to finish, so you'd have a big hit there even at the weekend with schools finals.”
Training schedules and plans have been altered. “A lot of underage county teams train there, they haven't been able to for the last couple of weeks, and they won't be able to train for the next few weekends, and some of the senior inter-county teams are usually there too,” he adds.
“It is devastating news for us in Connacht GAA, but it has a big impact for schools, clubs, and counties around the province.
“We provide fitness testing, programmes, and video analysis, that type of stuff, a lot of that was located in the Dome. So, we've been put back on that.”
