BANTRY Blues GAA Club has thought outside the box with their new sensory garden, called The Sideline, at Wolfe Tone Park.
Special guest of honour to perform the opening was president of the GAA, Jarlath Burns, who made the long journey from Armagh to be present.
The garden, a novel idea for a GAA club, will serve the whole community and is open to young and old alike.
‘Sometimes we struggle in clubs to provide facilities like pitches and such and we often leave people behind who can’t participate. This project is a brilliant initiative for our club and we hope Jarlath will go back and tell other clubs that this is the way to go to include everyone,’ Bantry GAA chairman Arthur Coakley explained,
‘This sensory garden can be used by anybody who wants to come during the day and they can sit and relax. We’re very much a community organisation and we want to include everybody in our club.’
Bantry Blues Chairman Arthur Coakley, Mark O'Donovan, and GAA President Jarlath Burns.
Other guests besides the GAA President were Pauline Lynch and Patrick Ger Murphy representing the county council, who were partners in this project; Alison Chambers from Cork Sports Partnership, and Danny Collins, county council. Club officers and club members, including Cork footballer Ruairí Deane, were present on the day.
The new Bantry Blues' Sideline garden that was opened by the President of the GAA Jarlath Burns.
The driving force behind the unique project was club officer, Mark O’Donovan, who explained how the garden came into being.
‘The idea of the sensory garden came from a conversation between Debbie Delaney and a parent not being able to watch her son playing games due to the lack of a safe space for her other son, who had special needs,’ said O’Donovan.
‘Debbie, a member of our Healthy Club committee, set about making the idea a reality. The club agreed to advance the project if some funds could be found. Application forms were filled by Mary O’Donovan and the county council approved a grant of €10,000. Without this funding this project would never have got going. From there we drove on. The club backing was very important and it showed that we are more than just a sporting organisation; we are where everyone belongs.
‘We had over 80 volunteers who put their shoulders to the wheels plus our adult team players, to deliver what has turned out to be a very special space for our community.’
Danny Murray with his boys Bobby, Ollie and Harry.
GAA President Jarlath Burns added: ‘I am delighted to be here to open this sensory garden because it is a place of sanctuary where people can go if they are overwhelmed with what might be going on in life, just to sit, to read. Leave the phone in the car and just be here with your thoughts. We would always say that the GAA is more than just a place where people come to play games and the whole community is very important to us.’
