PEIL FAOI 6/8/10: We experienced the best of football arís last Sunday and we now take a well deserved sos from “cúrsaí caide”; we will rest our weary limbs and bones, we will recharge our batteries, we will give a chance of complete recovery to all our hardworking mentors, we will enter the Christmas spirit, we will prepare (and be really good) for Santa, we will remember what Christmas is all about and we’ll be right and ready for ‘o9 action on 11th January ‘o9 when the indoor football sessions will continue at the same times and venues: (a)..Under 6s @ 10am in Mounthawk Gym..(b)..Under 8s @11am in Mounthawk Gym..(c)..Under 10s @ 11.30am at Green School Gym. Happy Christmas all!
CALENDAR ~‘o9 ~ FÉILIRE: Don’t say you’ve not got one… on sale at the following outlets ~ Siopa de Barra (Sráid na Carraige), Talbot Spar (Caherslee) and the Clubhouse in Connolly Park.
THE ACADEMY/ACADAMH NA gCAILÍNÍ: Austin Stack Club Girls’ Football Academy would like to send our best wishes to Jenny Fox who will reach the magic age of eight on 27th Dec. Lucy McGrath will be a ten year old lady on 28th Dec. Shannon Ward will hit her eleventh milestone on 1st Jan. ‘o9 and Jessica Moynihan…another magical eight on 1st Jan. ‘o9. All the mentors at the Academy would like to thank all the girls for all their effort in the past year, we would like to wish all a very happy Christmas and we will all be looking forward to another great new year of football in ‘O9.
SIOPA: Club geansaís, togs, socks, málaí, jumpers, etc., on sale in the Clubhouse! Give us a shout if you require…!
IOMÁNAÍOCHT: Our final hurling sessions before ‘o9 will take place next Sunday. (a) INDOOR HURLING for all Under 8/10/12 youngsters in the THE GREEN GYM on Sunday evening next @ 4.30pm. (b) Under 14/15/16/minors at 5.00pm.
SCÓR NA bPÁISTÍ: Figure Dance, Set, Ballad Group, Quiz, Sketch, Musical Group required: these competitions will take place after Christmas. Labhair linn.
DARA Ó CINNÉIDE: Dara Ó Cinnéide …ar leanúint…writes that “the GAA failed to gain an understanding of how to cash in on the growth in population during the Celtic Tiger period. According to research undertaken by the Institude of Economic and Social Research (ESRI), and publicised this year, there is a great increase in the number of people partaking in individual sports, such as jogging, swimming and weight-training, while the number of participants in Gaelic games has remained the same. That is no surprise when one considers the amount of money that has been invested in sports’ halls and swimming pools in very many communities over the past ten years as part of the commercial infrastructure. Heretofore, this kind of development was generally only undertaken in parishes and in communities on a voluntary basis by GAA clubs.
This leaves the GAA with many unanswered questions. We have known for some time that the economic field is an arid field with little imagination or productivity. The guardians of the purse strings cast a calculating eye on participation reports and one can easily visualize their assessment of participation and capital investment. Ergo, dá bhrí sin, the greater the participation in swimming, mar shampla, the greater the funding!
Over the years the relevant authorities have channelled a lot of finance towards the GAA, towards soccer and towards rugby but if it is obvious that participation in the GAA is static (as is the case for the past two years) then the results will be self-evident before too long. The GAA, as a long established organization, must ponder and deliberate on its long term aims. The GAA offers to our people a taste of that special distinctiveness that differentiates between us and our counterparts in any other community. If a former PRO of the GAA is suggesting to us that it’s stupid to write players’ names in Irish in match programmes for our national games, he is in effect telling us that we should be ashamed of our ancient language. As people and communities change, so does the GAA community!
The availability of gymnastic halls and swimming pools is of great importance in any community but they could be viewed as oases for the individual and for individual sports. A person comes along, performs and departs. That, perhaps, is a mirror of what is at present happening throughout the land but if Cumann Lúthchleas Gael is to be a flagship in communities in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Belfast or Tralee our organization will have to unashamedly display and celebrate its distinctiveness.
If this isn’t done (in and through our clubs) unique characteristics of Irish life will be weakened. What a pity it would be if our great Gaelic Ahtletic Association, to which has been handed down a great cultural tradition and which is supposedly continuing that tradition, should fail our children and our children’s children!”
Dara writes in “Foinse” a publication which may be purchased on Sat/Sun in Garvey’s “SuperValu” or in “Oaklands”.
CHRISTMAS: Our good wishes to all…Nollaig Shona do gach éinne…agus go mbeirimid beo ar an am seo arís.