"The Government decided it would be here"
April 05, 2016
The GAA National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
Paraic Duffy insists that the new €12m National Games Development Centre in Abbotstown is not another perk for Dublin.
Even though the Centre is in Dublin and will be used by Dublin, the director-general of the Association says it will be available to all counties:
"Let's face it, we're talking about Dublin here. Have Dublin any special first say on it? The answer is no. Nor have they sought it to be fair to them. I'm sure they will use it," the Monaghan man told The Irish Independent.
"Our goal is to have teams of all shapes and sizes on using it. I think clubs from all over the country will be thrilled with the opportunity of coming here for a weekend and maybe using the gym for a session, playing a match here.
"I think it will be used by all 32 counties, 2,000 clubs. That's what we want and I believe that will happen.
"This is the National Sports Campus, we didn't determine where that would be. The Government decided it would be here. As the premier sporting organisation in the country, we had to be here, but we didn't decide the site.
"If the Government had decided to put this in Athlone or Cavan or Monaghan or Kerry we'd have been there, because we have to be. We are the major national sporting body. You couldn't have a National Sports Campus without the GAA.
"The Government decided it would be here and gave us the land here so we developed it here. We didn't decide to put a facility into Dublin."
