Presidential praise for pitch project

PRESIDENT Michael D Higgins was in Whitehall last Tuesday (Sept 13) to officially open a super new €600,000 all-weather pitch at St Aidan’s CBS that will be shared by both the school and local football club, St Kevin’s Boys FC.

The cost of the project was met by St Kevin’s who raised €400,000 through years of fundraising and a €200,000 grant received from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport’s Sport Capital Programme.

The new pitch will be used by more than 800 members of St Kevin’s, as well as St Aidan’s soccer and Gaelic teams – and it’s this shared use of resources that grabbed the attention of President Higgins.

“You can do so much together when we share resources so the maximum amount of people get the greatest benefit,” said President Higgins during a speech in St Aidan’s Sports Hall.

“St Kevin’s are one of the most established football clubs in Ireland with great players both past and present. A roll call of former members is very, very impressive with Liam Brady, Damien Duff, Ian Harte, Steve Clarke, Alan Maybury, Robbie Brady and Jeff Hendrick all former members.

“It’s a great testament to the great generosity of St Kevin’s who have given their most precious resource of all – time.”

The opening of the pitch by President Higgins was the culmination of over five years of planning and construction that began when officials from the club approached the school about the possibility of installing an all-weather pitch in 2011.

Both St Aidan’s and St Kevin’s normally have to cancel multiple games and training sessions every year due to unplayable conditions, and both parties are now hoping that the club’s players and school’s students will benefit immensely from the new arrangement.

“The kids are going to be able to play more football which is the biggest benefit here,” St Kevin’s PRO Neil Fox told Northside People.

“The Irish weather is very unpredictable and the pitches get destroyed when we get bad weather so this way we can keep training sessions and games going. The kids will be training more, they will be playing more and that’s really beneficial.”

Former Taoiseach and past pupil Bertie Ahern was also in attendance and said that he couldn’t believe the changes St Aidan’s has undergone since he attended the school.

Ahern was part of the school’s first intake of students when the it officially opened in 1964, and said that he never thought he’d see the day when St Aidan’s would be unveiling a brand new soccer pitch.

“No, it was never going to be permissible in my time here as a student,” Ahern told Northside People when asked about the possibility of a soccer pitch being installed at St Aidan’s, a traditionally strong GAA school.

“Liam Brady was a year behind me here and he was suspended once for playing a friendly soccer match over a competitive Gaelic match.

“He might have got away with it if it was the other way around but I did a prize-giving night here a few years ago, and I couldn’t believe the range of academic and non-academic subjects taught here now. 

“It’s a fantastic school now for the arts. I was always into sport, but now there’s so much to do outside of that, which is terrific. 

“The proof of that is all the people coming through here now who are making their name in things that weren’t even here 20 years ago. It’s a great credit to the school and the staff.”