Derry City granted use of Derry GAA's Owenbeg centre of excellence

The club are seeking the use of the GAA facility on a temporary basis as they plan a new training hub of their ow

A general view of Owenbeg. Pic: Oliver McVeigh/Sportsfile

Derry City have been permitted to train in the GAA county board’s centre of excellence in Owenbeg.

The proposal adopted by Derry GAA was voted on at Central Council in Croke Park on Saturday morning, with the soccer club granted use of the facilities.

The Derry County Board’s executive endorsed the League of Ireland team’s approach last month having been contacted by The Candystripes a few weeks before.

The club will use Owenbeg on a temporary basis as they plan a new training hub of their own featuring three floodlit pitches in the city’s Templemore Sports Complex, which is two miles away from The Brandywell that is situated beside Celtic Park. 

Owenbeg is 32 kilometres away close to the town of Dungiven.

The GAA’s Central Council have been receptive to requests from other sports organisations for the use of its grounds and this is the second successive Ard Chomhairle meeting where such an approach has been made.

However, a recommendation to facilitate Leinster Rugby in Croke Park required the deciding vote of GAA president Jarlath Burns at their meeting last March. Some delegates had requested they consult their counties before making the decision.

With the vote tied, Burns’ intervention allowed Leinster to host their Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton Saints at GAA HQ two months later. That sell-out game was followed by another at Croke Park in October when Leinster met Munster in a United Rugby Championship round game.

In the same competition this March, Mayo’s Hastings Insurance MacHale Park will host Connacht’s date with Munster. Permission for the game, which sold out soon after tickets were made available earlier this week, was requested and granted by Central Council last month.

Munster met the Canterbury Crusaders in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh last February, their second visit to the Ballintemple venue in 14 months. Ulster clashed with Glasgow Warriors in a pre-season game in Kingspan Breffni in October 2023.

Central Council will also be presented with clock/hooter protocols as part of the Football Review Committee’s (FRC) suite of rule changes. However, there are growing concerns about the feasibility of the countdown clock at several venues, while TV broadcasters have also voiced their synchronising issues between stadium clocks and those shown during live coverage.

FRC and Hurling Development Committee chairmen Jim Gavin and Terry Reilly’s replacements for Michael Murphy, Malachy O’Rourke and new national head of hurling Willie Maher are also expected to be endorsed.

While Gaelic Players Association chief executive Tom Parsons is also set to discuss the recent off-season.