Minister opens Shamrocks new fitness centre

 Minister for Sport Michael Ring officially opened the brand new €125,000 fitness centre at the clubhouse of the Mullingar Shamrocks GFC in Springfield yesterday (May 8 ). The state-of-the-art gymnasium features spinning, a weights suite, and a variety of cross-trainers. “It’s very well stocked, and a great addition to the club,” said the club’s vice-chairman Dr Tom Hunt. He paid tribute to the Department of Sport who provided €96,000 of sports capital funding for the new facility. “The rest was blood, sweat, and tears, as you know yourself. It wouldn’t’ve happened without the Sports Capital Grant, and that’s not a party political broadcast,” said the former teacher, author, and Railway Cup winner. He explained how the gym was up and running since January, almost a year after the fund-raising drive began. It is believed the club’s massive 120-strong peloton to Galway and back last summer funded the lion’s share of the shortfall through sponsorship. The gym is open access, and is available to members of the public from 9.30am to 11pm. This is the latest addition to this most progressive of clubs, after the opening of its all-weather pitches last year.