DUNDRUM Coastal Rowing Club (DCRC) has officially opened its new “home”.
The three-time Skiffie World Champions threw open the doors of their recently completed boathouse, located on the village’s Main Street, for a special event on Saturday, and were joined by Olympic rower Philip Doyle, a bronze medal winner for Team Ireland in Paris.
Speaking to the Mourne Observer, DCRC head coach Andrew Boyd said that the boat storage facility had been about seven years in the making, with negotiations, fundraising and a pandemic all featuring in that time.
“The whole reasoning behind it is that every time you wanted to go out in a boat, you had to get somebody that could tow it,” he explained.
“Now that the boats are on the launching trollies in the shed, it has increased the capacity for people to be able to get out, and that was the main objective for getting it done on that site.
“It is much safer now you don’t have to tow the boats across the street.
“We have that now as a meeting place, as a home – we have a home.
“That was the main thing – we had won all these world titles and we have got the boats, but we just didn’t have anywhere.”
Andrew thanked the Dundrum Development Association for their work in bringing the project to fruition, and said that the village is “lucky to have them”.
Concluding, he stated that Saturday had been “a fantastic day”.
“Like anything, if you work hard for it, you can achieve it,” the head coach stressed.
“That’s sort of the ethos of the club – if you work hard, you can achieve.
“Philip touched on that when he spoke – any club that wants to be successful, it has got to be driven forward.
“Generally speaking, if you get a collective that pulls together in the right direction, you can achieve some great things.”
