Kepak backing a major boost for Dunboyne GAA club

Former All-Ireland SFC-winning manager Sean Boylan was on hand on Sunday morning as Kepak Group announced a major sponsorship of Dunboyne GAA club.

As part of the 10-year partnership the club's academy facility will be named Kepak Park.

The Kepak Group is a leading Irish food company and the partnership agreement, which involves a significant investment in support of the club’s major €2.5m development plans, also includes primary sponsorship of the annual club summer camps.

This partnership follows the announcement by Kepak last year of a three-year sponsorship deal with Meath Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) until the end of the 2022 season.

The Meath ladies won the All-Ireland IFC title at Croke park last December and will, this year, compete in the senior grade.

This sponsorship of the Dunboyne club represents a new phase for Kepak’s strong history with Gaelic games in the Royal County.

Kepak and Meath GAA enjoyed one of the longest and most successful relationships in Gaelic football during the Sean Boylan era at the helm of the Meath team that featured a 14-year sponsorship.

"Kepak is delighted to be supporting St Peter’s GAA Club through a significant multi-year investment that will fast track the major development plans already underway at the club," commented Kepak Group CEO Simon Walker.

"This new partnership with St Peter’s underscores Kepak’s commitment to supporting local communities, providing the Dunboyne club with essential funding which will positively impact teams at every level.

"In addition, Kepak’s support for annual summer camps will also help aid the development of the exceptional young talent that will be the future of Gaelic games in Meath,” he added.

St Peter's, Dunboyne officials, led by chairman Ronan O'Doherty, were on hand for the launch on Sunday morning and former Meath manager Sean Boylan was also present for the important occasion.

“We are very pleased to have Kepak on board as major sponsors of the development of St Peter’s GAA club for the next decade and extremely grateful to them for their continued support," stated the club chairman.

"As title sponsors of our state-of-the-art new academy facility, Kepak Park will become a focal point to support the nurturing of young Gaelic games talent, as well as a fantastic amenity for local schools and the wider Dunboyne community.

"Our ambitious development plans at the club are progressing well thanks to all our supporters, including Kepak, as we enter our final fundraising push to deliver everything we have envisaged,” he added.

The St Peter’s GAA club development plan has been ongoing over the past number of years and chairman O'Doherty outlined briefly the history of the club.

"St Peters GAA Club has been an active sporting, social and cultural organisation at the heart the Dunboyne community since it was established almost 120 years ago in 1902," stated O'Doherty.

"The club seeks to contribute to and support the enrichment of its members, their families, and the broader community.

"This is achieved through the provision of best-in-class facilities and an inclusive and safe sporting environment to support children achieve their full potential by developing their physical, emotional and social wellbeing.

"With over 1,300 members, the club currently caters for over 750 playing members across 60 teams in our football, men and women, hurling and camogie codes.

"The club’s under-age section, up to under-18, currently facilitates the participation in regular activities of over 600 children from the community," he added.

St Peter’s GAA club officials have been working to prepare and progress a major development plan to significantly enhance the facilities at the club. The planned development is an essential response to enable the club to accommodate the increasing membership numbers it has recently experienced.

With player numbers set to double to more than 1,500 over the next five years, the delivery of the development plan is a critical priority for the club.

Work began on Monday for the new astro pitch.

Prior to that work has included extensive research with other clubs, the acquisition of lands for pitch development, plan design and tendering.

Crucially also there was a requirement for licence agreements with local schools to ensure access to new facilities, securing planning permissions, submission of grant applications to various bodies and obtaining approval for various fundraising efforts.