The University of Galway Connacht GAA AirDome has been reinflated over a year after being destroyed during Storm Éowyn - and Connacht GAA chief John Prenty has said that have taken steps to protect it from similar incidents in the future.
The multimillion euro facility in Bekan in Mayo was officially opened in 2021 by then GAA President Larry McCarthy and has been a huge success due to its ability to host indoor games at all levels, regardless of the conditions.
However, record-breaking winds in January 2025 tore the inflated roof of the structure apart with officials confirming at the time that it was their intention to fully rebuild it.
In January, in his annual report, Connacht Prenty said that they hoped to have it fixed by April and although it took a little while longer, 495 days after going down it is back up at a cost in excess of €4 million.
The facility, the second largest sports dome in the world when originally completed, can hold over 2,000 spectators for games.
At the crack of dawn this morning, 495 days since Storm Eowyn, the University of Galway Connacht GAA AirDome was inflated again!
— Connacht GAA (@ConnachtGAA) June 2, 2026
Thanks to everyone who made this possible, a momentous day for Connacht GAA! pic.twitter.com/Ax0KBw0y3H
The first match held in it was the 2022 FBD League clash between Leitrim and Sligo, won by the Yeats County.
One significant change in its redevelopment over the last 18 months has been a change in position for floodlight to allow the dome to come down should similar stormy weather be forecast.
"The new dome, the replacement structure, is a resilient fabric and has been specifically designed to allow it to be rapidly deflated," Prenty told RTÉ Radio 1's News At One.
"That means that if we get a severe weather forecast we can deflate the dome.
"That has been accommodated by having floodlights that are pitch mounted rather than roof mounted. That enhances our ability to respond to adverse weather conditions quickly.
"We started this afternoon to put those pitch lights into place and that will take maybe a week, 10 days and hopefully in four or five weeks we’ll be open for business with the fully functional dome."
Watch a hurling final double-header, Carlow v Laois in the Joe McDonagh Cup (3.45pm) and Dublin v Galway in the Leinster Hurling Championship (6pm), on Saturday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
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