We are continuing to work with our partners in Fingal County Council (FCC) on the plans for our new club facilities. There are a number of separate processes in motion at the moment. It is important for members to understand the distinction between these processes to avoid confusion and any associated miscommunication.
1. O’Dwyers GAA Club Development
The club via our appointed development team has been engaged in negotiations with FCC over the past number of years.
Our development and legal teams had a very productive meeting FCC on 7th November 2019, in principle the detailed legal agreements are in-line with the original heads of terms and what has been presented to club members with one or two final items still to be finalised. The target is for the agreements to be finalised over the next 2 weeks with the team meeting with FCC again on the 21st November with an expectation of agreeing final draft proposals a summary of which will be advised to the members at the AGM.
In parallel, we close to identifying a building contractor to construct our new facility. We are concluding negotiations, identifying value engineering options and phasing expenditure in line with available funds. We are aiming to propose the options and phased approach at our forthcoming AGM.
It is acknowledged that these final hurdles are taking longer than expected. This is a complex process but we have made significant progress in the last few weeks as we work to conclude the various agreements.
2. Bremore Regional Park Development
Separately, Fingal County Council has been progressing a park development plan to guide the future development of Bremore Regional Park, Balbriggan, North County Dublin. The primary objective is to develop a 20 year Park Develop Plan and reach consensus with stakeholders to deliver a sustainable vision for Bremore Regional Park in the face population growth and increasing levels of community participation in active leisure.
Following on from the most recent information evening, the council actively encourages feedback and comment on the proposed Park Development Plan through the consultation portal to ensure the proposals address and provide a balanced response to the challenges & opportunities while recognising and cultivating the unique character and context of the area.
Although this is a separate process from our own club development process, we would strongly encourage our members and stakeholders to fully engage in this process with our partners FCC More information about the public and consultation process can be found here: https://www.balbriggan.info/public-consultation-bremore-regional-park-proposed-park-development-plan/
3. O’Dwyers Fundraising
Our fundraising committee has been busy over the last number of weeks culminating in our most successful fundraising and social event to date O’Dwyer’s Does Broadway. This event was a result of many weeks of work, organising, fundraising. There were over 20 individual “Mini” fundraising events and over 110 Company sponsors brought on-board with 90 dancers, 700 in the audience this was no small task!
The team’s efforts have been split between fundraising for our new development and for the fundraising for the general running of our club with some of the events below;
- Weekly Lotto
- Juvenile Disco’s
- Golf Classic
- O’Dwyers @ the Dogs
- Race Night
- U11 Hell & Back
- Outdoor Monster Bingo
- Family Fun Day
- Patron Scheme
All these efforts have been invaluable in raising the visibility of our club, our club finances and bringing a lot of off-field fun to the club. To date as headline number we have successfully raised €165,000 purely for Development and the general club financial position is in a very healthy position – Additional breakdown will be provided at our AGM.
Over the upcoming weeks there are a number of events;
- Dublin Evening – 30th Nov
- Patron Scheme – Tax submission
- 80’s Disco – 28th Dec
We are busy planning 2020 events so If you have any queries or suggestions or can support our fundraising efforts, please reach out to one of our friendly fundraising committee or email info@odwyersgaa.com
