Leinster vs Edinburgh

pace in 1B of the seconds league and the
J3s focus on the Anderson Cup.
The long-term targets revolve around
winning the Towns Cup, reaching out
to promote rugby in all the schools in
Carlow through Club Community Rugby
Officer Gavin Whitney.
There is a strong desire to increase the
number of girls at minis, youth and adult
levels by at least 10 per cent every year.
They already have ‘The Rhinos’ girls
teams which evolved from a very
successful working group with neighbours
Tullow RFC.
Further, there is a drive to actively attract
the community into the club.
“We intend to put in a walking track
around the pitches for the parents and
locals to use during training or at other
times of the day,” says Elmes.
The club wants to launch and establish
an annual community volunteer event
to grow the number of volunteers and
celebrate those already involved in the
club.
The process to have floodlights on all
three pitches began, starting with the top
training pitch.
At the moment, the club is planning for
Phase 2 of their training lights due to
commence in April and is set to take eight
weeks.
Everything is in place to complete
the process thanks to funding by a
Department of Transport and Tourism
Sports Capital Grant, club fundraising
and membership
“We have continually worked on the
grounds where monies are available to
us,” says Justin Hannon, the chairman of
development.
This is micro-managed by Ian Dwyer,
chairman of finance, his committee and
honorary treasurer Terry Cassidy.
“We are very reluctant to go down the
road to an all-weather, artificial pitch. We
hold the opinion that it is not sustainable
for Junior clubs due to extra costs, such
as the maintenance fees etc,” declares
Hannon.
“We would prefer a state-of-the-art grass
pitch. At the moment, our surface is not
bad. But, we have applied for grant aid
to help us level it and reseed it.
“We have all the other infrastructure. We
have the stand. We have the lights. We
just need to upgrade the pitches.”
The bathrooms are up for redevelopment
and there is an eagerness to turn the
famous ‘triangle’ area into a mini rugby/
training pitch and an outdoor gymnasium
by the end of this year.
Further, there are plans to resurface
the car park and for the gym, hall and
kitchen to contribute financially to the
club as a rentable space for functions,
fitness classes, as a training venue or a
performance/exhibition space.
“The purchase of a pitch maintenance
vehicle and complementary equipment
has been approved along with an
application for green flag status which
encompasses a pollinator plan, a waste
policy and litter plan,” notes Donald
Daly, chairman of house and grounds.
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