Sinkhole GAA club to get new home
A MONAGHAN GAA club which was torn apart by a sinkhole is to get a new home.
In September, Magheracloone Mitchells near Carrickmacross was forced to shut following the partial collapse of a mine beneath the club last year.
It has now been granted planning permission at a field near Lisnakeeny in Monaghan. The club will build a training facility with two training pitches, flood lighting, ball stops, and a single-storey prefabricated building with dressing rooms and toilets.
The club has been using neighbouring grounds for training since the original sinkholes appeared.
The sinkhole at Magheracloone was caused by recent work at a nearby mine. The clubhouse was damaged by subsidence, while neighbouring houses were also affected, roads were closed, and a school was evacuated. Two subsequent sinkholes appeared close to the GAA pitch which Gyproc, the company that runs the large gypsum mine in the area and investigated the mine collapse, said were part of the original collapse.
Gyproc mines gypsum in the area which is used in the manufacture of plasterboards.
The council said it had approved the permission on Thursday and it is now subject to a four-week period for any appeals to An Bord Pleanála.
Since the emergence of the sinkhole, more than €10,000 has been raised for the GAA club through a GoFundMe campaign.
Sinkholes can vary widely in size and can be caused by rainwater dissolving certain types of soft rock.
Typically the rain seeps through the ground absorbing carbon dioxide and reacting with decaying vegetation, turning it more acidic, which can dissolve rock layers beneath the surface. The land above collapses into the cavity when it can no longer be supported.