The new Leitrim GAA Centre of Excellence, along with a unique "Leitrim Wall" which helped fund it, has been officially opened this afternoon by the President of the GAA John Horan.
The Leitrim Wall was an idea inspired by the trip of the county team to the US to play New York last year.
A committee was put together to try to raise funds among the Leitrim diaspora to complete the complex at Annaduff which had hit funding problems.
Their goal was to encourage the diaspora and indeed anyone with Leitrim connections to buy a brick in the Leitrim wall with their name or someone else's name and a message inscribed on it.
Land for the Centre of Excellence had been bought at Annaduff in 2007 but the recession did not help things and there was a shortfall of €300,000 to complete the facilities.
The Leitrim Wall Committee’s campaign was a huge success with almost 500 bricks bought.
The funding target was exceeded by €20,000 and chairman Eamonn Duignan says they’ll now have to build two extra sections of wall to fit in all the bricks.
The bricks are displayed in five sections of wall at the entrance to the Centre of Excellence and include a range of messages including personal ones and some remembering people who have died. Each is a testament of love and support for Leitrim and Leitrim GAA.
Two bricks in particular tell another love story - one was bought by Gerry Nangle from Leitrim, the second was bought by his Dublin-born wife, Kathleen. Her brick says: "Up the Dubs, thanks Leitrim for Gerry." Gerry passed away earlier this year but his wife of 58 years and their children Paula and Finbarr were in Annaduff this afternoon to celebrate the unveiling of the Leitrim Wall.
An underage blitz kicked off the celebration of a community and diaspora effort to complete the centre for the promotion of the GAA in Leitrim.
Leitrim County Board Secretary Attracta O’Reilly said a lot of work went into raising funds for the wall to finish the Centre, and now that it is complete, the facilities will be of huge benefit to GAA at all levels in the county.
