Innovative Fundraising Drive for Leitrim GAA
Press Release
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
[b]Leitrim GAA Supporters launch Innovative Fundraising Drive to Rebuild P?irc Se?n MacDiarmada[/b]
An innovative fundraising initiative was launched today in Carrick-on-Shannon by supporters of Leitrim GAA to raise ?1.5m to complete the redevelopment of P?irc Se?n MacDiarmada.
The fundraising will pay for a 3,000 seat covered stand, four new dressing rooms, shower rooms, training area, meeting rooms, kitchen and canteen and press facilities. The new facilities will replace those provided when the stadium was originally opened in 1964 and are badly needed to bring the stadium up to modern standards.
The new facilities will cost ?3m in total. Preliminary funding of ?1.5m has already been secured from the Department of Arts Sport and Tourism and the GAA. An additional ?1.5m is required and this fundraising drive is aimed at the loyal Leitrim GAA supporters and friends. All donations are tax efficient and this appeal is looking for Leitrim people living all over Ireland and overseas to give a one off donation to provide state of the art GAA facilities for the coming decades.
The fundraising initiative is titled ?Get on the Team? and it gives Leitrim people a chance to be involved in safeguarding the future of Leitrim?s GAA headquarters for many years to come. Donations start from as little as ?580 to ?14,500 for 42% PAYE taxpayers and from ?800 to ?20,000 if you are a 20% taxpayer. The ?14,500 donated by a 40% PAYE taxpayer will actually translate to ?25,000 as the development is approved for tax relief purposes. A ?20,000 donation by a 20% taxpayer will mean a ?25,000 donation.
The generosity of donors will be commemorated by a permanent plaque that will be prominently displayed on the wall at the entrance to Pairc Se?n. There are gold, silver, bronze, green, yellow and white teams which represent the amount donated. (For example, a ?25,000 donation secures your place on the gold team?etc)
Speaking today, Leitrim GAA County Board Chairman Gerry McGovern said: ?This redevelopment will not only provide Leitrim GAA with a superb new Headquarters but it will also greatly reflect the positive and vibrant attitude that exists among the people of Leitrim and considerably enhance the image of Carrick-on-Shannon and the County in general. We are calling on Leitrim people everywhere to get behind this fundraising drive to give us a stadium of which we can all be proud of for years to come.?
Players representing the present and future of Leitrim GAA were in attendance at Pairc Se?n to lend support to the fundraising drive. The senior, U-21 and minor players were in Carrick-on-Shannon as were the captains of the ladies football minor and senior teams. 2006 was a relatively successful one on the pitch for Leitrim, with the senior team reaching the Tommy Murphy Cup final and the ladies winning the Connacht junior final before losing out to Sligo in the All-Ireland final.
www.leitrimgaa.ie
31-Oct-06 by Brendan Doyle
