Breaffy GAA Club celebrated a milestone last weekend when they officially opened the Breaffy Medical and Business Centre (BMBC ) at their state-of-the-art clubhouse in Breaffy.
The club has prospered in recent years with the development of a second pitch and clubhouse in Ballyheane and a complete overhaul of the grounds in Breaffy including a new clubhouse and carpark, ground works, and now they have added the BMBC to their portfolio.
Donegal businessman Brian McEniff, who is a hailed GAA manager and administrator, officiated at the opening which took place on Friday evening in front of a strong local business and sporting audience.
Anchor tenant in the BMBC is Dr Terence McAlinden BSc (Hons ), PhD, DDS, who opened his dental business at Breaffy Dental Suite this Monday (for appointments telephone 094 902 3163 ). Terence and his wife Margaret hail from Armagh but have been running a successful dental business in Tuam for the past six years.
Living in Breaffy they seized the opportunity to set up their own business closer to home and saw the Breaffy Medical and Business Centre as the perfect location for servicing the greater Castlebar area. Terence is actively invovled in Breaffy GAA Club as a coach with the Under 10 team. He graduated from Queens University in 1987 with a BSc Hons in biochemistry and molecular biology and continued his studies in the USA where he obtained a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology in the Medical College, Ohio. After working in cancer research for a number of years he obtained a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS ) qualification at the University of Minnesota.
In 2001 he returned to Ireland to practise dentistry. From 2002 he and Margaret have worked developing a dental practice in Tuam and now they are turning their attention to Breaffy where they have set up Breaffy Dental Suite.
Speaking at the launch, Breaffy GAA Club chairman Gerard Bourke welcomed Terence and Margaret to the BMBC and thanked them for choosing Breaffy as their home and as a headquarters for their business. He also welcomed Enda Lonergan and Marie Gibbons from the Connacht branch of the Golfing Union of Ireland who have also chosen Breaffy as their base.
He paid tribute to Mick Duane, contractor, and Walsh and Bourke builders for all the work they have done on the Breaffy GAA Clubhouse.
It was Chairman of the Breaffy GAA Club management committee Martin Reddington who had the initial dream to develop the clubhouse into a living, breathing building. “Everything starts with an idea and an idea started on a walk I had with Martin Greaney,” he explained. “We said we had to build dressing rooms and out of that grew all this here. The vision of the club is to be the best club in Mayo and around that we built a whole lot of activities which included structural, financial, operational and so on. That’s what we plan to do and one of the things that the GAA must marry is not just sporting excellence, but business excellence, and that’s the future. It’s appropriate that we are opening this building here and to the right of us there are guys training for a championship match tomorrow. There are three things we all need in business and indeed in anything in life – passion, attitude and perseverance. The plan is to populate this place, make it a living building, not just at night time but during the day so it would make a contribution to the community here and contribute to the welfare of the community. That’s what the GAA should be about.”
Before officially declaring the BMBC open Mr Brian McEniff congratulated the club on what was a momentous occasion. “I’ve been to Breaffy many times and I never came that extra few yards until tonight and it’s a credit to you. Talking as a football person the first thing that struck me was the surface. It’s superb. I felt I should be togged out with the boys. The development here is a credit to you. I am very involved in the administration level of the association. What’s envisaged here is basically what was done in Croke Park as well. Croke Park the stadium is now earning more money than the football is earning. That’s hard to credit at this stage. That’s down to financial management. That’s the future of the association.
“You envisage Breaffy as the best club in Mayo, this is the start.”
Finally Terence thanked his wife Margaret who he said was the real boss behind their dental practice, he thanked their family and friends and also Breaffy GAA Club for having the foresight in planning the BMBC which will serve the local community into the future.
