The University of Galway Connacht GAA Air Dome was damaged by Storm Éowyn in January. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Connacht GAA secretary is hopeful that the Air Dome will be operational once again in October.
Speaking at the launch of the Connacht SFC, Prenty's optimistic the facility will be available before the end of the year, following the considerable damage caused by Storm Éowyn in January.
“There will be a dome, that’s our intention," Prenty says. "We’re working with the manufacturers; working with Prunty’s, who are our contractors, and Tobin’s, our engineers; and we’re almost ready in the next couple of days to order the canvas to be manufactured.
"That will take somewhere between five and seven months. We’d be confident that we’d be back up and running – depending on weather again later on in the year – but by the end of September, early October. It will depend on weather. Obviously you can’t inflate it on a windy day.”
The surface of the pitch has been repaired in recent weeks. “The pitch had some damage done to it, but that has been repaired," Prenty confirmed.
"The plinth that holds it together - the slow part of this would be manufacturing the canvas.
"So, we’re dealing with that. Obviously the engineers have got to come in and inspect the ground works, to see is it capable - the initial feeling is that, yes, everything else is perfect."