The sun shone intermittently but, more importantly, the rain stayed away for the official opening of the brand new playground and multi-use games area in Ballyhooly Community Sportsfield on Sunday last.

A large crowd from the community gathered to celebrate the opening of the new facility and enjoy the free family fun day that was organised to mark it. There were bouncy castles, face painting and dodge ball with barbecue food and refreshments for all.

The completion of the playground and multi-use games area has delivered first class leisure facilities for the community, complementing the existing two full-size Gaelic pitches, two tournament-standard tennis courts, changing rooms and walkway, 30 years after the commencement of development works at Ballyhooly Community Sportsfield.

The state of the art play area is suitable for children from 2-12 years, while the multi-use games area incorporates a flood lit astro-turf surface and rebound wall suitable for use from the age of six upwards, including adults.

Proceedings to celebrate the official opening got underway shortly after 2.30pm on Sunday with committee member Brenda Crowley acting as MC. She began by welcoming all present and commended the wonderful sense of community that is evident in Ballyhooly with the realisation of this quality project.

The first speaker was Chairman of Ballyhooly Community Sportsfield, Jim McCarthy, who outlined the background to the playground and said that the playground committee's two key objectives had been achieved; bringing the project to fruition within the 12 month window and having the development paid for in full. Jim acknowledged the vital role of Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Limited, Dr Tom Cavanagh and Cork County Council who collectively allocated €100,000 to the project while the remaining €44,000 was donated by a range of benefactors including a most impressive community door to door collection which yielded over €25,000.

Jim went on to acknowledge the role of Valerie Murphy and Niall Walsh of Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Limited who have been good friends of a range of projects in Ballyhooly in the past, while Dr Tom Cavanagh was sincerely thanked for his tremendous generosity and support to this project and many more in Ballyhooly. Jim also thanked Michael Cremin of Cork County Council; Mayor of County Cork Noel O’Connor who was present, and the Councillors there; Frank O’Flynn, Patrick O’Driscoll and Noel McCarthy.

Jim spoke on behalf of all present in acknowledging the presence of Mike Ross, Irish and Leinster rugby player and his family, fresh from Leinsters’ bruising encounter with Munster on the previous night. Mike is a great supporter of all projects in Ballyhooly and he was wished well in the rugby season ahead.

The next speaker to be introduced was Valerie Murphy, CEO Avondhu Blackwater Partnership Limited who extended her warmest congratulations to the committee and the residents of Ballyhooly on the development of an excellent community facility.

The CEO acknowledged the difficulties faced by the committee when the LEADER programme was closed for a period of three months; however she complimented the committee on their resilience and persistence in completing the project. She referred to Dr Tom Cavanagh as a key enabler of projects in the Avondhu area and without whom many such projects might not be undertaken and she acknowledged the vital funding from Cork County Council in facilitating the project.

Ms Murphy addressed the local and national politicians present, saying that the community and voluntary sector in Ireland, without whom projects such as the Ballyhooly one would never come to fruition, must be given the full recognition for the very valuable work they undertake on behalf of society. Ms Murphy also stated that the community and voluntary sector must be fully resourced and never, ever be taken for granted.

Liam Dineen, the Chairman of the Playground Committee and also of Ballyhooly GAA thanked the members of the committee who were drawn from a wide range of clubs/committees and included Jim McCarthy, Pat O'Connor, Majella Roche, Pete Sykes, Joanne Roche, Brian McCarthy, Mike Dineen, Lisa Woods, Therese Holland, Brenda Crowley, Tom Collier and Denis Hickey.

Liam gave particular credit to Jim McCarthy for his innate ability to secure funding and donations from a vast range of sources; to Brian McCarthy for his excellent project management of the entire development and to Pete Sykes, who kept the finances under tight control and whose actions were crucial to ensuring the project was delivered within budget.

Liam thanked all members of the Ballyhooly community for donating so generously to the door to door collection, particularly Breda O’Neill for her enthusiasm and diligence during the collection and the Ballyhooly ‘Ulla’ Baby and Toddler Group for their excellent fundraising of over €2,000. Liam acknowledged the trojan work done by Majella Roche as chief organiser of the catering for the official opening and her able assistant, Joanne Roche.

Liam also referred to Majella’s instrumental role as Chairperson of the Board of Management of Ballyhooly NS in the official opening of the school extension on Thursday – a busy week for Majella. Liam further thanked local contractor, James Walsh, Walsh Engineering who completed the works, with assistance from Pad Cooney Plant Hire, Paudie Burke – Burke Electrical and Mike Dineen Engineering.

He also thanked his own family for their patience and support during the very busy period of the works. On a practical note, Liam reminded the supervising adults to be cognisant of the rules to be adhered to when using and enjoying the playground.

Dr Tom Cavanagh was the final speaker. As always, Dr Cavanagh provokes thought in his audience and he urged all present of the importance of feeling a sense of belonging to a community of people and that being from Ballyhooly provided a solid foundation of family and community.

He described the new facility as an ‘off-balance sheet asset’ and reminded children that use of the playground should only take place after the completion of homework and work around the house … sterling advice indeed for all children present!

In concluding the proceedings, MC Brenda Crowley called on Fr Pat Scanlan PP to bless the facility. While offering the warmest congratulations to all who had made this facility possible, Fr Scanlan read a short prayer and an appropriate reading was delivered by Emer Buckley.

This was quickly followed by the cutting of the ribbon by Dr Cavanagh following which children invaded the playground from all directions to commence the first ‘official’ playtime! All present were then treated to a range of refreshments and a fun sociable afternoon was thoroughly enjoyed by young and old.

The committee wish to acknowledge the assistance of the following personnel/businesses in making the events on the day of the opening possible: Marquee (John Frewen, Ballyduff) – sponsored by Walsh Engineering; Adventure Castles & Slides, Glenroe, Co Limerick; O’Herlihy’s Centra, Fermoy; Shane Ryan 'Blenders Sauces'; Oliver McCarthy (amplification); Lucy O’Connor (fruit etc); Anna McCarthy and her team of face painters; Sean Penny for the wonderful cake and for manning the BBQ and ensuring all present were in possession of tasty burgers and sausages. The committee would also like to sincerely thank all personnel who assisted in any way with the catering for the official opening.

The committee is grateful to the entire community for their patience and generosity in the support of this excellent amenity. They hope that the official opening and family fun day were a fitting way to mark the completion of the project and that in the words of Dr Cavanagh, "It was a day to remember for the proud community of Ballyhooly."

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