Mr Mayor, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here at the Taghnevan Sports Complex to carry out the official opening of the new changing rooms and pavilion.

I have had an opportunity to look around at the new facilities and they are indeed a wonderful addition to this ground.  They will provide great opportunities for the Club to work with a wide range of organisations across Lurgan

I am delighted therefore, that this element of the Taghnevan Sports project has been funded by the Department for Social Development through the Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund.

This project, in its entirety is an excellent example of the public and voluntary sectors coming together to deliver benefits for this local community.  

The partnership arrangement which has been established between the St Pauls Gaelic Football Club and Craigavon Borough Council has enabled it to attract the necessary funding from a range of sources to provide these extended sports facilities for this local community and to those residents of the Lurgan Neighbourhood Renewal Area.  

I understand and appreciate fully the importance of sports in our communities.  There are the obvious advantages in terms of the links between sporting activity and improved health and well being.  However, there are many other benefits which impact on the wider community.  Organised sport helps to create discipline and a sense of community pride.  Those involved in sporting organisations are more inclined to be prepared to give up their time to be involved in volunteer activities.  Sporting groups provide a structure for many young people who otherwise may have very little positive influence in their lives.  They therefore play an important role in helping to create a community spirit, introduce discipline and reduce the potential for youths to become involved in anti social behaviour.  These new facilities will play a very important role in helping us to achieve our objectives in this regard.

Of course, schemes like this do not happen on their own and this project is an excellent example of local and central government working with communities to improve the quality of life for residents.  In this regard, I would like to acknowledge the role played by all of those involved in this project - the Contractor TAL Ltd, Greg Seeley the lead consultant, the committee and members of St Pauls Gaelic Football Club and their partners Craigavon Borough Council and my own staff Aideen Logue and Cathy Wallace who were responsible for securing the necessary funding for the scheme.

The Department for Social Development has been working tirelessly to help address the inequalities associated with deprivation in urban areas.  In this regard over £4 million has been spent on a range of projects in the Lurgan Neighbourhood Renewal Area.  These projects will not only provide new and improved facilities such as football pitches and changing rooms, they also serve to tackle the root causes of deprivation by tackling issues such as poor educational attainment and barriers to employment.  

I would like to congratulate the Lurgan Neighbourhood Partnership and its chairperson Ann Hanlon for the role which it has played in helping to identify the needs of the area.  I am sure that the range of innovative projects which the Department has funded will bring benefits for all of the residents of the neighbourhood renewal area.

Finally, I want to wish this community well in the future and I look forward to coming back here very soon to attend the official opening of your new football pitches.  Without further ado, I would like to declare the new Taghnevan Sports changing facility officially open.