HISTORY OF DOOHAMLET SPORTS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Formation

    Doohamlet Sports Development Committee, a sub-committee of the Doohamlet O’Neill’s Gaelic Football Club, was formed out of the necessity to improve the sports facilities at O’Neill Park, Doohamlet. A number of projects were identified, such as improvements to the football field, shower rooms, changing rooms, floodlighting and training ground. After over five years in existence, the Committee has achieved most of its goals, with two of those still in the process of completion.

The first meeting of the above Committee was held on 24^th January 2001 and the officers elected were as follows:

Chairman:                             Jim Connolly

Secretary:                             Olivia Keenan

Treasurer:                             Aidan McMeel

Vice Chairman:                     Pat King

Assistant Secretary:              John Doran

Assistant Treasurer               P. J. Harte

Other Committee members: P.J. Meehan, Michael McManus and Francis Duffy.

2001

The Committee wished to address the problem of the continuous flooding of the football field.  The river that runs alongside the field was cleaned in September 2001 by Stone Crazy Ltd.

The collecting of Club membership, which commenced early in the year, was postponed due to the foot and mouth disease and eventually completed in mid summer.

The services of Mr. Nigel Hillis, engineer, were engaged to advise on a plan to develop the football field on a long term basis in December 2001.

An application for a National Lottery grant was completed and submitted.

2002

In May our application for a National Lottery grant was successful.  The Committee approved the plans for the field prepared by Mr. Nigel Hillis. These plans were twofold: to drain and level the field. The contract was awarded to Stone Crazy Ltd, which commenced work in mid August and completed it by the end of September.

Images of Playing Field Development

Image 1

Image 2

Image 3

A Monster Auction and Barn Dance was held in August to raise funds for the field development project.

The paperwork for drawing down the grant was completed and forwarded to the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation in November. The grant was received at the end of December.

The footballers organised a very successful Race Night in Connolly’s, Doohamlet in December. Well done lads!

2003

Once again, collecting membership was undertaken by members of the Committee.

In April, an application for National Lottery funding was made for refurbishment to changing rooms and converting the handball alley into a gym. Unfortunately, our application was not successful on this occasion.

In October, concrete steps were installed between the Dressing Room building and the supporter stand.

The field was spiked in November as part of on going work to help drain the field.

The tickets for the fundraising Draw were circulated to Committee members and footballers at the AGM of the football Club in December, with the draw due to be held at Easter 2004.

It was agreed to apply to the Peace II Task Force for grant aid for a gym. This application required a survey of the needs of the area, which was circulated to people living in the Doohamlet area in December 2003.

The Committee decided to apply to the National Lottery for a grant to refurbish the shower rooms.

2004

The grant application for the National Lottery was submitted to the Department of Arts, Sport and Recreation in January 2004.

The results of the area questionnaires indicated support for a gym, so it was decided to go ahead and apply to the Peace II Task Force for a grant for this project.

The car park was tidied up in the wake of the work done to the field and a few loads of stones were laid.

Committee members started collecting the annual membership again.

A ground breaker was used on the field in March to help with the drainage.

In April, the Committee decided to purchase a grass cutter.

A Monster Auction was held on Easter Monday for the shower refurbishment work

The plans for the refurbishment work to the shower rooms were finalised. Grant approval was received from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. Mr. Paul McElroy got work underway. Doohamlet Plumbing & Heating looked after the plumbing aspect of the project, with the plumbing equipment being supplied by Eurotech Underfloor Heating Ltd.

In late April, the senior team started training on the football field for the first time in twenty months.

The field was re opened for the first competitive match on 16^th May against Eire Og, with victory going to the home side (as usual!). The verdict was that the work to the field was a great success.

The requirements for an application for funding under the Peace II Task Force included approving a Constitution and holding an annual general meeting.

At the Annual General Meeting held on 4^th July, the Constitution was approved and the following officers were elected:

Chairman:                            Jim Connolly

Secretary:                             Aidan McMeel

Treasurer:                             P J Harte

Vice Chairman:                    Michael McManus

Assistant Secretary:              Pat King

Assistant Treasurer              Aidan McMeel

Other Committee members: P J Meehan, Eamon Connolly and John Doran.

In July, the grant application to Peace II Task Force was completed and submitted.

The Draw was held on 17th September and was a great success.

The paperwork for drawing down the grant for the shower refurbishment work was completed and submitted to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the grant was received in September.

A seat was also installed at the rear of the supporter stand in October.

The field was scarified in October to help improve the drainage and it was a great success.

In November, our application for Peace II Task Force grant aid was turned down.

In November and December the Committee explored the possibility of acquiring some training ground, but without success.

The year came to an end with the Committee setting up a Register of names of Club Members.

2005

It was decided to apply to the National Lottery for a grant for floodlighting for the main field and refurbishment of the changing rooms. This was completed and submitted in February.

Temporary floodlights were erected by Doohamlet Electrical in the Stoney Meadow.

Levelling the ridges left by the scarifying job the previous autumn was solved by having the field scarified again in February, and then rolling it. It was also decided to level a few loads of sand on the field in April.

The project of erecting advertising signs got the go ahead and letters were circulated to potential advertisers seeking support.

Committee members were collecting membership once more.

The field was verti drained and the new dug out was erected in May, which was sponsored by Eurotech Underfloor Heating Ltd.

A total of twenty five advertising signs were erected by the Committee at the beginning of July.

In July, the grant application for floodlighting and changing room refurbishment was successful.

The idea of encouraging members to join Gaelic Telecom as a telephone provider and raise funds for the Club was explored, and it was agreed to go ahead after meeting with a representative of Gaelic Telecom.

It was decided in August to erect temporary floodlights on the field as light was needed urgently for training. The temporary lights were installed in September and the plans for the permanent floodlights were finalised.

Security barriers restricting access to the car park were completed in November.

And for the record, a total of eighty seven people had their names recorded in our Register of Club Members for 2005.

2006

The floodlighting project was in progress; all poles were now installed.

An application was made to the G.A.A. Ulster Council for grant aid for all projects completed to date.

In February it was decided to go ahead with changing room refurbishments.

The collecting of membership commenced in early March, and there has been a good response so far.

There are plans to put a stone path from the supporter stand along the top wall as far as the Gents Toilets at the far side of the field.

The three outstanding advertising signs were erected along the far side of the field.

And finally, the floodlights are operating and are in use for training by the senior team. Long may they last!

Later this year when events commemorating our Centenary are being held, members of the Doohamlet Sports Development Committee should feel justly proud of the work that has been done over the last few years to improve the facilities for all our players. The Committee are in no doubt that the development projects will provide tremendous benefits to the young people of Doohamlet area for many years to come.