The community of Ballyhooly gets to tick off a major item on its wish list this Sunday with the official opening of the brand new community playground in the village.

Dr Tom Cavanagh will officially open the playground and multi-use games area and the community is going all out to celebrate the occasion with a free Family Fun Day. There'll be bouncy castles, face painting and dodge ball as well as barbecue food and light refreshments for all. All members of the community are invited to join in the fun and enjoy the occasion in Ballyhooly Community Sportsfield from 2.30pm on Sunday.

The completion of the playground and multi-use games area delivers first class leisure facilities for Ballyhooly, providing a safe haven in the community sportsfield for the development of play, contributing to the wellbeing and development of children of all abilities in Ballyhooly and the surrounding areas.

The state-of-the-art play area is suitable for children aged from 2 to 12 years of age, while the multi-use games area incorporates a floodlit astro turf surface and rebound wall which can be used for a number of sports for those aged six and upwards, including adults.

The finished development is a fitting way to mark the 30th anniversary this year of the commencement of development works in Ballyhooly Community Sportsfield, the new facilities adding to the existing ones; two full size Gaelic pitches, one of them floodlit, two tournament-standard floodlit tennis courts, changing rooms and a floodlit walkway to make a facility the whole community can be justifiably proud of.

Over the last 12 months, a joint committee drawn from a wide range of clubs and committees in Ballyhooly community, under the chairmanship of Liam Dineen, got to work to bring the project to fruition. Committee members Liam, 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 worked hard throughout to deliver the project. They say great credit is due to local contractor James Walsh of Walsh Engineering who completed the works with assistance from Pad Cooney Plant Hire, Paudie Burke of Burke Electrical and Mike Dineen Engineering. The project was supervised by local engineer and committee member Brian McCarthy.

The €144,000 project was made possible by funding from Cork County Council, Avondhu Blackwater Partnership, donations from generous benefactors and local clubs as well as the exceptionally generous response from the local community who added a whopping €25,000 to the pot in a door-to-door collection. The €144,000 cost included all construction works, planning, design and the e-tendering process as well as the lighting for the astro-turf pitch.

The committee this week extended sincere thanks to everyone for their patience, generosity and support in the realisation of what is an excellent amenity for Ballyhooly community and say they look forward to seeing everyone at the free Family Fun Day this Sunday.

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