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Inishowen to play Donegal at Malin
opening
14.02.08
AN INISHOWEN select
will take on Donegal at the official opening of
Malin's new GAA facilities on the May Bank Holiday
weekend.
Valued at more than €1.2 million, the facilities
include a new pitch, gym, weightsroom, dressing
rooms, clubrooms and other ancillary rooms, and a
covered stand that provides seating for 240 patrons
and standing room for hundreds more. But it is the
clash between Inishowen’s best footballers and the
Donegal senior team that will be the biggest draw on
Sunday, May 4. Brian McIver’s Donegal will be just a
month short of their Ulster championship opener with
Derry and local club footballers will be keen to
measure themselves against the county team. “We’ll
be contacting all the club managers across Inishowen
in the next couple of weeks to find out who’s
interested,” said Malin manager Pat McLaughlin (F)
who hopes to assemble a panel of up to 24 players.
“Lots of Inishowen players have had trials at county
level in recent years and this gives them a good
chance to make an impression before the championship
and perhaps show the county management what they’re
missing.” |
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Urris assembled an
Inishowen select to mark the opening of Crampsey
Park in 1989, while an all-Inishowen side
participated in the Donegal senior football
championship for a couple of years in the early
1990s.
Club secretary David Gallagher was fulsome in his
praise for the manner in which the local community
supported the project both through buying tickets in
four major fundraising draws and working voluntarily
on the facilities.
“Michael Conway donated land for the pitch, which we
have extended and widened, and chairman Patrick
McLaughlin (R) used his contacts to help drive the
project forward,” Gallagher said. “Scores of people
gave freely of their time and helped us complete
this ambitious development. We couldn’t have
afforded to do it without their help.”
Gallagher also praised former Sports Minister Dr Jim
McDaid for his work in helping secure more than
€400,000 in sports capital funding. “It made the
project viable from a financial point of view and,
along with big funds granted to the Glengad soccer
club, it brought a lot of money into the parish.” |
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