Two sporting bodies are set to make their pitch to county planners for a second time in the coming weeks for the multi-million euro development of a sporting complex just outside Athenry.

Speaking on Tuesday at a preview day for the new League of Ireland season, which kicks-off this Friday night, Galway United chairman, Jonathan Corbett, said the club – joined by Connacht Hockey – was ready to go back to planners with a fresh application for a Centre of Excellence at Mountain South, after its first submission was refused planning in 2022.

“We have been on to Galway County Council over the last few months and we have a meeting planned for the next few weeks where we are putting a second application in for Mountain South in Athenry,” Mr Corbett said on Tuesday.

“At the moment we are renting facilities all around the city and county, the application for Mountain South remains a priority, and we would he hoping all councillors and politicians will give us their back on that,” he said.

The Galway United delegation will be joined in that planning meeting by Walter Holleran, who is the Head of Grant Funding & Infrastructure Development, and Mr Corbett said that while he welcomed the recent statement from the Galway GAA that its hopes for a facility at the Galway Airport site “could be more wide-ranging – not just for GAA”, it was also important for the “football family” in Galway to have its own facility.

“We had a first application in, and we were given a steer [by the County Council] on that, and then it was refused. We now, with the FAI, have asked for a meeting with Liam Hanrahan, who is the Director of Services [for Economic Development and Planning], and we are hoping to have that in the next few weeks,” he said.

Caption: An artist’s impression of the original frontage of the Sports Centre of Excellence development at Mountain South.

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