Ritchie opens new sports centre in Lurgan

Social Development Minister Margaret Ritchie today officially opened a new sports centre at St Peter’s GAA Club in Lurgan.

The new centre includes a sports hall with facilities for users with disabilities, and provides a venue for exhibitions, community group meetings, seminars and workshops. The Department contributed £283,000 to the project through its Modernisation Fund.

Margaret Ritchie said: “The aims of the Department’s Modernisation Fund are being achieved in practical terms as demonstrated with this new sport centre today. St Peter’s has embraced wholeheartedly my shared future and shared space ethos by welcoming all members of the local community to use these facilities.

“I want to see the Modernisation Fund provide the most modern facilities to make community based initiatives more effective. The fund is about providing support to organisations throughout Northern Ireland, enabling them to deliver better services to their local communities.’’

Notes to editors:

1. The objective of the Modernisation Fund is to support voluntary and community organisations to modernise, to enable them to become more sustainable and deliver new and better services in an era of change. The capital programme will encourage collaboration and resource sharing among voluntary and community groups and will be managed across the schemes making up the programme.
2. Media enquiries to DSD Information Office on 028 90829078/07970 976894. Out of office please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699715440 and your call will be returned.