Work begins on £1m sports pitch in Ballyhornan

Work begins on £1m sports pitch in Ballyhornan

13 November 2019

WORK on a new £1m sports pitch in Ballyhornan is well underway and is expected to be completed in April.

Located adjacent to the Ballyhornan Family Centre, the ultra-modern floodlit 4G sports pitch and new changing pavilion will be used by Celtic Bhoys Football Club and the local community.

Funding for the eagerly-awaited sports pitch has been provided by the Social Investment Fund — set up to provide financial support for projects aimed at tackling deprivation —Newry, Mourne and Down Council with the soccer club also weighing in with its support.

The latest investment in the continuing social and economic regeneration of the Ballyhornan takes the amount of money which has been invested in the village on a series of major and minor projects over recent years towards the £2m mark.

The Ballyhornan Community Association, under the chairmanship of Mrs Patricia Curran, has been at the heart of the drive to regenerate the village. 

Delighted that work on the new sports pitch is now well underway to add another key piece of the village’s redevelopment jigsaw after decades of underinvestment, Mrs Curran is encouraging other community groups to set their sights high and press ahead with plans to regenerate their own rural locations.

While Celtic Bhoys will be the main users of the new football pitch, it will also be available to the wider community with bookings taken through the village’s family centre.

Work to secure the new pitch started in 2012 and while there have been a number of highs and lows along the way, the sight of heavy plant and machinery on site has delighted all those associated with the project.

Mrs Curran said that while the process to secure the investment dragged on for a lot longer than  anyone had envisaged, everything came good in the end with the contractors now on site.

She also paid tribute to all those locally who helped deliver the project, including former Down Council official Liam McLernon, former Downpatrick councillor Naomi Bailie and current councillor Dermot Curran.

“This is very much a community facility which will be available for use seven days a week and we are indebted to the support provided by Liam, Naomi, Dermot, Celtic Bhoys and many others, including the Co Down Rural Community Network. We would not have been successful if it had not been for their collective efforts,” the chairwoman continued.

“It is so pleasing to look out and see contractors busy at work on the new pitch. A lot of hard work has already taken place to remove a layer of tarmac and concrete underneath it. Stones have been laid and once the drainage goes in the work to lay the new 4G surface can start. The pitch will be ready for Celtic Bhoys when the new season begins next year.”

Mrs Curran said the new pitch will be fenced off with community officials exploring the possibility of the floodlights being able to illuminate only one half of the pitch if that is all users require.

“After working for so long to deliver this particular project it is absolutely fantastic to see the diggers on site and the new pitch taking shape. While we thought at one stage that this may never happen, the contractors are at last on site,” she continued. “It has taken a lot of hard work by many people to reach this stage.”

Mrs Curran said that the first meeting to discuss the possibility of developing a new pitch took place seven years ago and admitted that “perseverance pays off”.

“The new pitch will be available to anyone who wants to use it. Celtic Bhoys will have first call with the new pavilion featuring home and away changing facilities a referees’s room and storeroom,” she said.

“We have achieved quite a lot and have proved that hard work and perseverance pays off in the end. With contractors working away it gives us a great sense of achievement and Celtic Bhoys are  also delighted that they will soon have their own home.”

Mrs Curran said people who want to achieve something should not believe that it is impossible, but work hard and  keep going.

She added: “The Ballyhornan Community Association set its sights high and kept working, even though at times there was a lot of frustration. We kept persevering and are delighted we got there in the end.”