NEW London GAA chairman Noel O’Sullivan has identified the development of the county grounds at Ruislip as his main and immediate priority.
The first phase of an initiative aimed at upgrading the grounds includes the levelling and draining of the pitch, as well as the installation of an irrigation system.
Plans have been drawn up for the proposed redevelopment, which has been on the agenda for over four years, but little progress is believed to have been made in terms of fundraising.
The Irish Post revealed in December that finance totalling €600,000 had been made available by the GAA and Department of Foreign Affairs, but the County Board were required to raise a further €300,000 of its own before those funds would be released.
“The priority will be getting Ruislip done up, there’s no doubt about it,” said O’Sullivan, who succeeded Tommy Harrell as chairman last month.
“In this day and age it has to be improved, especially the pitch. It’s no good in the wintertime when it takes on any rain so that would certainly be my number one priority.”
Rumours emerged recently suggesting the County Board wanted to begin work at Ruislip immediately after London’s clash with Leitrim at the venue in the Connacht SFC on June 3, which would keep the pitch out of action until October.
However, O’Sullivan has expressed a desire to postpone any proposed work until after the conclusion of all club activity for the 2012 season.
He said: “If the work could be done between October and May I think that would be a better option because we really would want to keep the pitch available to our domestic competitions. I wouldn’t like to lose out on that.”
Meanwhile, Donal Corbett is set to continue in his role as treasurer of the London County Board, despite announcing last month that he’d be stepping down.
“Quite a few of us spoke to him about his decision over the Christmas period and I think it’s important that he stays on,” said Noel O’Sullivan.
