Kerry parish receives ‘massive’ praise as they look to finish state-of-the-art GAA complex

By Alastair Tibbs, The Kerryman

An ambitious south Kerry community that has raised over €1m for an all-weather pitch is looking to continue its quest against rural decline.

The community of Tuosist on the Beara Peninsula is moving into the next phase of its development venture and is looking to Kerry County Council to provide assistance.

An astroturf GAA pitch was constructed in the rural location at the price of €1.4m, with the community contributing an astonishing €1.1m towards the project.

With the wind in their sails, they’re looking to surface the car park, install floodlighting and establish modern changing rooms and a community meeting room.

At a recent Kenmare Municipal District meeting, Stephen O’Sullivan, Chairman of Tuosist GAA Club said the community-led Tuosist Community Complex was key to the survival of the parish.

The complex already boasts a walking trail, a biodiversity area and orchard, and combines with the parish hall to host palates, bingo and even crochet.

“Projects like this are one of the most important investments in meeting this challenge of depopulation,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

During spells of bad winter weather, GAA teams as far as west Cork can be seen using the pitch which remains free of water.

The community is also looking to refurbish their parish hall and expand it to include the proposed changing rooms and meeting rooms.

The community has an application in for CLÁR (Ceantair Laga Árd-Riachtanais) funding, which supports small-scale rural projects.

They asked Kerry County Council (KCC) to provide funding for a footpath to link the local school with the complex.

Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae had ‘massive’ praise for the project and said he was ‘very disappointed’ that last year’s CLÁR submission had not been successful.

He felt there was a ‘disconnect’ between KCC and the Tuosist community and argued the money spent on the locality in the last 50 years had been small.

“The amount of support or funding they’ve got is poor. The money they’ve raised shows serious commitment of the community,” said Cllr Healy-Rae

“They’ve had very little to see for their taxes…what has been activated here is the same as knock airport to be honest.”

A footpath would ‘enhance’ the whole project, he said.

Councillor Norma Moriarty said it was ‘very impressive’ what had been achieved, highlighting how central the project was to attracting families to live in the area.

She said the connecting footpath was a ‘small ask’ and that it was important the school was connected to the complex.

“You’ve done all the heavy lifting and now you need a helping hand,” she said.

Councillor Dan McCarthy added that the footpath was the ‘minimum’ and would be a big asset for the school.

“You had a vision for success and you had success…you’re setting an example for the rural clubs and rural societies,” he said.

Kerry County Council assured the deputation that Tuosist’s CLÁR application was ‘very strong’ and that other grants were available.

They warned that footpath funding, however, was ‘extremely limited’ this year, with Cllr Healy-Rae adding that they would be ‘years away’.

Cllr Healy-Rae pledged funding from all the elected members allocations for the Tuosist community.