PLANS are afoot to acquire a significant investment from the GAA into Derry city over the next few years, The Irish News has learned.

A committee comprising Derry and Ulster officials has been set up and will present an application to Croke Park in the near future.

On top of that, negotiations are at an advanced stage for the sale of land by Séan Dolan’s to the housing association. The site owned by the club in the Creggan area of the city is set to go for around £2.4m, and plans have already been drawn up to use the money on building an indoor playing facility on their existing club grounds.

The facility would be modelled on the Lavey-Termoneeny centre, which was opened on the grounds of the former All-Ireland club champions at the start of this decade at a cost of £2.4m, and has played a significant role in their rise back up through Derry football.

Derry city has seen major developments in recent years, most notably the acquisition of a pitch for each club. Doire Trasna, the only Waterside-based club, are the last to get their own ground after years of playing on a council pitch.

Doire Colmcille and Na Magha both had the first new pitches of their own opened this decade, while Steelstown and Séan Dolan’s have had longer-established bases.

Earlier this month, the newly-amalgamated Cathair Dhoire team, which comprised a handful of city schools, reached the MacLarnon Cup final.

Since 2007, Derry have received €1.34m in games development grant money from Croke Park, a significant proportion (believed to be around half) of which has been invested in the city.

Of the city clubs, three currently play junior football. Steelstown are an established top-end intermediate side, while hurling-only club Na Magha played in the Derry intermediate championship last year, having briefly gone up to senior in the middle of this decade.

Having purchased Celtic Park in the 1940s, Derry county board have had long-held ambitions to try and create a GAA culture in a city that has traditionally been a soccer stronghold.

There has equally been long-standing opposition to ongoing investment from parts of the county on the basis that the money could potentially have more impact elsewhere.

The city has a population of 83,163 (2011 census), which accounts for around a third of the county’s overall population of just under 250,000.

If funding is approved, it would fall into line with the strategic plans of the GAA centrally, and of Ulster and Derry, all of whom have earmarked urban development as key.

Any money invested by the GAA in Derry city is likely to fall under the games development heading, and therefore be used to pay for extra coaches.

Last year saw the GAA begin an investment of £1m over five years into Belfast. That money goes towards the wages of the newly-appointed regeneration manager, Dr Paul Donnelly, and several coaches that will service clubs and schools in the area.

A similar model was also extended to seven counties in Leinster as part of the East Leinster Coaching Project.

Kildare saw the biggest change, with their level of games development funding from Croke Park increasing by €120,000 from 2017 to 2018, while Meath (€100,000), Wexford (€80,000) and Wicklow (€43,000) were the other major beneficiaries.