The future of Derry city’s oldest GAA club is at risk, it emerged today.
Members of the Sean Dolan’s club in Creggan say they have been unable to redevelop their clubhouse and pitch after the building was destroyed in an arson attack in 2011.
This, the club claims, is because of delays in receiving an insurance payout from GAA headquarters in Dublin.
It is understood that the insurance payment is in the region of £700,000.
Members have warned that if the issue is not sorted within a matter of weeks, the club could fold.
As recently as 2007, Sean Dolan’s, which was formed in 1942, was chosen as the GAA Club of the Year throughout Ireland.
At that time, the club had 400 members, ten teams playing at different age groups and a thriving clubhouse.
However, at present, it only has a senior team left and struggled last weekend to gather up 15 players to take part in a match in Division Three of the Derry county league.
Young Sean Dolan’s players are being forced to join other clubs to get a game.
The club’s pitch at Piggery Ridge (pictured above) in Creggan is overgrown and littered with broken bottles and rubbish.
As a result, the one team that the club does have is being forced to play their home matches at various pitches in the city.
Danny Cassidy, club secretary of Sean Dolan’s, admitted that the club is ‘on its knees’.
“There is no doubt that if we do not get progress on the club grounds in the very near future then the club could fold,” he said.
“We have a contractor ready to get to work on the pitch but he has told us that if he does not start work within the next two weeks then we will miss the growing season and we will have to put the work back until next year.
“If that happens, the club will not be here next year.”
Mr Cassidy said the club’s present problems all stem from the arson attack on the clubhouse three years ago.
The building was set on fire on December 28, 2011, causing such extensive damage that the building had to be demolished.
Police initially treated the fire as accidental, but later changed their mind and launched an arson investigation.
It was revealed recently that five police officers have been disciplined following a Police Ombudsman investigation into the botched PSNI investigation into the Sean Dolans fire.
No one has ever been charged in connection with the arson attack.
Mr Cassidy said the attack had been a massive blow to the club.
“Since the clubhouse was destroyed, the grounds have been plagued with anti-social behaviour and local people fed up with the situation have been constantly asking us what it happening.
“We keep telling them that we are doing our best and that we are being held back because of the delay with the insurance money.
“People in the area are rightly angry at the state that the grounds are in at the minute and it is frustrating that our hands are tied so much.”
The Department of Social Development (DSD) has committed £100,000 towards the regeneration of the Sean Dolan’s grounds.
Mr Cassidy said they were grateful for the DSD support but added that they needed more help to secure the club’s future.
“We would appeal to senior figures within the GAA to come up to our grounds and see for themselves the state that they are in.
“Since the clubhouse was destroyed, no one from GAA headquarters has been up to meet us.
“We have had good support from the Derry GAA Board but we need more help if we are to get our club back on its feet.
“We also need more support from local politicians.
“Sean Dolan’s is a community club and for many years has played a key role in community development in the Creggan area.
“It’s plain to see that we need more support from the community and community leaders if the club is to survive.
“We are determined to save the club and make sure it prospers but we cannot do it on our own,” added Mr Cassidy.
The Derry News contacted GAA headquarters at Croke Park in Dublin but the organization did not make a statement in relation to the current situation with Sean Dolan’s.
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