Casement Park GAA Day

There will be a special ‘GAA Day’ held in Casement Park, Belfast on Sunday 8^th February.

The Clár for the day will be as follows:

• 1.30pm            Unveiling of Mural celebrating 125^th Anniversary of the GAA.  Mural designed and created by world-renowned mural artist Danny Devenney.
• 2.30pm            GAA National Hurling League – Antrim v Westmeath (Under 16 Free Entry)
• 5.30pm            Discussion: “The Building of Casement Park”.  The remarkable story of how Casement Park was purchased and developed by the Corrigan Park Reconstruction committee in the early 1950’s.  Speakers:  Sean McGettigan & Gilly McIlhatton.

Ulster GAA Launch 125 Events

Ulster GAA President Tom Daly will launch the Ulster Council’s programme of events during 2009 marking the 125^th Anniversary of the GAA in the Europa Hotel at 10am on Tuesday 3^rd February.

All media and press are welcome.

A wall-chart outlining the programme of the events will also be distributed free with Wednesday’s edition of the Irish News on 4^th February.

For further information contact: Damian Kelly Information Officer: dkelly@ulster.gaa.ie

O’Fiaich Library Lecture

What connects William of Orange, Cardinal Michael Logue, the Irish Football Association, the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Great Northern Railway? The answer is that they all feature in the story of ‘Sunday Games and their Opponents in Ulster, 1884-1920′, which is the title of a lecture to be held at the Cardinal Ó Fiaich Library and Archive, Armagh, on Wednesday 4 February.

In the lecture, which is under the auspices of Cumann Seanchais Ard Mhacha, library staff-member Dónal McAnallen will examine the ferocious debate that erupted in Ulster in the late nineteenth century in relation to the rights and wrongs of playing games on Sundays.

Sunday games were technically forbidden by law since 1695, and in most of Ulster Protestant influence ensured that this legislation was closely adhered to. It came under strain, however, with the organisation of sports bodies which catered for the lower classes, most notably the GAA. The Royal Irish Constabulary was put in a particular dilemma as to how best to apply the law.

The lecture will outline the hostility of Protestant and Catholic clerics in Ulster to Sunday games, and the expression of sabbatarian influence in the north through the unionist press and bodies such as the GNR and the IFA.

Of particular local interest will be the sole surviving newspaper accounts of the 1890 Ulster Gaelic football final (Armagh v. Tyrone) – which was reported as a “squabble” between 50 “Sabbath desecrators” – and sabbatarian attacks on the GAA in Markethill and Ballyvarley in the 1900s, both of which were discussed in the House of Commons.

The lecture starts at 8 pm. Admission is free. Refreshments will be provided.

Coaching Conference Report

The 5^th Ulster GAA Coaching and Games Development Conference took place in the Glenavon House Hotel in Cookstown last Saturday 24^th January with over 430 delegates in attendance. The Conference was again sponsored by O’Neills who sponsored a new kit that was won by Cargin GAC, Co Antrim.  O’Neills also kindly supplied a conference pack for all delegates that was distributed at the end of the conference.

The Conference theme was on “Common Goals, Different Roles” and it focused on the key stakeholders who deliver Gaelic Games to children and youth. The keynote speakers and workshop facilitators delivered their sessions to challenge current thinking and practice in coaching and games. A clear message emerged that there is a need to focus on developing good physical literacy skills with young children.

Walter Bleakley, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Ulster stressed the need to work closely with educationalists in achieving good fundamental movement skills, something that is embedded in the new curriculum. Greater emphasis on coaching through games and developing better decision makers from an earlier age was evidenced. For the older age groups Dr Eugene Young stressed the need for the key stakeholders in the GAA, the schools, the clubs and the counties to work much closer together in a range of issues such as fixtures planning and player management to ensure that young players are nurtured and developed to their full potential.

Kieran Kennedy, O’Neills International Sportswear stated:

“This year’s Coaching Conference turned out to be a massive success, with over 400 delegates in attendance.  O’Neills International Sportswear are delighted to be associated with this event and we hope that all the delegates enjoy their conference pack.  I would also like to congratulate Cargin GAC, who won the set of jerseys sponsored by O’Neills”

Conference delegates are encouraged to pick up the sessions on the Ulster GAA website www.ulster.gaa.ie and to review the video footage on www.irishnews.com/gaaconference

Related:

- Coaching Conference Photo Gallery
- Coaching Conference Presentations

CDP – Hurling Fitness with the Sliothar

February 3, 2009
7:30 pm	to	9:00 pm

Venues: All Saints GAC Ballymena & Davitt Park, Lurgan
Info: This practical session will specifically examine fitness methods using the sliothar in hurling. These outdoor observation sessions are open to everyone and please come prepared for the elements.
Tutors: Gavan Duffy & Gerard Monan

Please note the above course is open to everyone and are free of charge.

Contact: Should you have any queries please contact Jimmy Darragh 07920429204.

Sympathy Message

Tom Daly, President of Ulster GAA, on behalf of the Clubs, County Committees and Provincial Council in Ulster, expresses his sadness and extends his deepest sympathy to the extended Brennan family, upon hearing of the death of Peggy Brennan, mother of Uachtarán CLG Nickey Brennan.

Go ndéana Dia trócaire ar a anam.

Donegal lift GL Dr McKenna Cup

Gaelic Life Dr. McKenna Cup Final:
Donegal 2-12 Queen’s 0-11 (aet)

But a storming late rally which produced goals from David Walsh and Ryan Bradley finally saw off the tiring students, who had played their semi-final just two days earlier.

James Kielt was the man to apply the stylish finishing touches to some sweeping Queen’s moves in the first half, demonstrating the quality which has seen him earn a call-up to Damien Cassidy’s Derry squad.

Kielt hit three points, and with the Donegal defence under constant pressure, there were numerous opportunities, some of them wasted, others impressively converted by James Loughrey, Conor Maginn and the busy Sean Leo McGoldrick.

An early blitz saw the students open up a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after just five minutes, and an early score by wing back Eamon McGee proved to be Donegal’s only firsrt half score from play.

Charlie Vernon’s dominance of the midfield area kept the students on top, and his central partner Paul Courtney thumped over a superb point.

Kevin McMenamin and Stephen Griffin did keep Donegal in touch from frees, but they struggled to inject any fluency into their attacking effort, thanks in some measure to the efforts of QUB defenders Ryan Dillon and Justin Crozier.

It was QUB who led by 0-8 to 0-5 at the break, the there points margin scarcely reflecting their dominance.

Ciaran Bonner was switched to midfield, and hit the equalising point, after Griffin and Brendan Boyle had narrowed the gap early in the second half.

Ciaran Bonner brought Donegal level seven minutes into the second half, but two excellent Shaun O’Neill points had Queen’s back in front with 10 minutes to play, but became the second student to be shown a yellow card, following centre back Brendan McArdle to the bench.

Neil Gallagher’s late point sent the decider to extra-time, deadlocked at 0-10 each, and David Walsh’s 78th minute goal saw Donegal turn around with a 1-11 to 0-11 advantage.

And Ryan Bradley’s late goal sealed the silverware for John Joe Doherty’s men.

Donegal: P Durcan, F McGlynn,, R Sweeney, P McDaid, C Byrne, B Monaghan, E McGee (0-1), N Gallagher, B Boyle (0-1), C Bonner (0-2), C Dunne, R Kavanagh, K McMenamin (0-3, 2F), S Griffin (0-3, 3F), D Walsh (1-1)
Subs: M Doherty for Boyle (58), L Thompson for Dunne (65), E Waide for Kavanagh, 68, yellow card), R Bradley (1-0) for Sweeney (70, yellow card), Boyle for Byrne (84)

Queen’s: F Murphy, A McCrory, L Howard, R Dillon, D O hAgain, B McArdle, J Crozier, C Vernon, P Courtney (0-1), J Loughrey (0-1), C Maginn (0-1), S McGoldrick (0-1), J Kielt (0-4, 2f), S O’Neill (0-3), C Bayne.
Subs: L Morrow for McArdle (yellow card, 36), P McVeigh for O’Neill (yellow card, 64), B Martin for Morrow (65), C Leonard for Bayne (84)

Referee: P Hughes (Armagh) (replaced by J McKee, Armagh, injured 70 minutes).
ends

Wides: Donegal 11, Queen’s 12

Yellow cards:
Donegal: R Sweeney, R Kavanagh

Queen’s: B McArdle, S O’Neill

Red cards: None

Attendance: 2,000 (approx)

Cross Border Volunteering Initiative

Margaret Ritchie, Minister for Social Development, and John Curran TD Minister of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, today (Saturday 24th January) celebrated the launch of three cross border volunteering pilot projects.

The Department for Social Development and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs are working in partnership to jointly fund the two year pilot scheme which runs until 2010, at a total cost of approximately £280,000, and aims to increase the number and diversity of volunteers.

The cross border, cross community projects will involve the Church Of Ireland, Voluntary Arts Ireland and the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association using their existing networks to develop their volunteer base, promote community development and help build community cohesion.

Speaking at today’s launch in Downpatrick, Minister Ritchie said; “There is a real need to increase the number and diversity of volunteers. These innovative projects will help to do just that.  They are the first of their kind on the island of Ireland.

I am delighted that the Church Of Ireland, Voluntary Arts Ireland and the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association, in designing their individual projects, have agreed to work together to share best practice from each of their initiatives on a cross community and cross border basis.  I commend them for their courage, innovation and leadership.”

The Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs is supporting the project as part of its mission to promote and support the sustainable and inclusive development of communities and alleviate disadvantage.

Minister Curran, addressing the launch said; “This is an innovative project which will contribute to the growing volunteer base on both sides of the border.  Volunteering is central to the ideals of democracy, social inclusion and active citizenship. It is also an expression of the individual’s involvement in their community. I am particularly pleased to be working with Minister Margaret Ritchie and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland. I hope this will be the first of many mutually beneficial cross border joint initiatives.”

Queens to meet Donegal in Final

James Kielt lit up the Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup on Thursday night as his haul of 1-5 helped Queen’s ease past Ross Carr’s Down on a 1-17 to 1-11 scoreline.

Kielt, who, on Thursday, was called up to Derry’s NFL panel scored a crucial goal on 38 minutes to give the college side the momentum they needed to dethrone the holders.

The sides were level at the break with Cathal Magee fisting a goal for the Mourne men after 15 minutes after being set up by Ronan Sexton.

Down had the ball in the Queen’s net just before half-time but it was subsequently ruled out as John Fegan was deemed to have handpassed the ball over the line.

That incident may have proved to be the turning point as QUB came out with their tails up after the half-time interval with Kielt, in particular, very impressive.

Conor Bayne was also among the scorers for the students in the second-half as Down faded.

Aidan O’Rourke’s side will now square up to John Joe Doherty’s Donegal in the final at Omagh on Saturday evening.

Donegal first through to Final

Donegal are through to the Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup final after an all-out 1-14 to 2-9 win over Armagh in Omagh on Wednesday night.

It was early-season fare but a fine advertisement for Gaelic football, with David Walsh’s late goal ultimately separating these two Ulster foes.

Yet, after that ‘major’, it looked as though Ronan Clarke would respond with a green flag for The Orchard County – only for defender Paddy McDaid to intervene with a block.

All the goals came in the second half, before which Donegal led by ten points to seven.

There was just one in it following Kevin O’Rourke’s goal, but Walsh responded with a Donegal major in the 57th minute to restore the four-point cushion.

Paddy McKeever did manage a second Armagh goal, but Donegal held on, helped by Ronan Clarke having a penalty saved by Paul Durcan.

Ulster Club Football League Draw

The draw for the 2009 Ulster Club Senior Football League took place on Tuesday 20th January.

This year, there has been a total of 36 entrants from 8 of the 9 Ulster Counties.
The league commences on Sunday 8th February and will run for five consecutive weekends. Please note all matches are fixed for the Sunday at 2.00pm.

The winner from each section along with the two best runners up will qualify for the Quarter Finals, which are fixed for Sunday 22nd March.

The semi finals are fixed for Sunday 29th March and the final is scheduled for Monday 13th April (Easter Monday).

Fixtures

- Ulster Senior Club Football League Fixtures (as of 26/01/2009)

Groups

Group A
Ardboe (Tyrone)
Aodh Ruadh (Donegal)
Ballinascreen (Derry)
Derrylin (Fermanagh)
Newbridge (Derry)
Truagh (Monaghan)

Group B
Ballinderry (Derry)
Galbally (Tyrone)
Longstone (Down)
Kilrea (Derry)
St Brigids (Antrim)
Whitecross (Armagh)

Group C
Ballymacnab (Armagh)
Bellaghy (Derry)
Creggan (Antrim)
Gortin (Tyrone)
Latton (Monaghan)
Magherafelt (Derry)

Group D
Clan na Gael (Armagh)
Dungiven (Derry)
Loughmacrory (Tyrone)
Malin (Donegal)
Portglenone (Antrim)
Strabane (Tyrone)

Group E
Doohamlet (Monaghan)
Glenullin (Derry)
Glenavy (Antrim)
Kildress (Tyrone)
Lavey (Derry)
Silverbridge (Armagh)

Group F
Cargin (Antrim)
Dromore (Tyrone)
Greencastle (Tyrone)
Greenlough (Derry)
Loup (Derry)
Mac Cumhaills (Donegal)

Awards Keep Coming for Tyrone

Over 400 guests were in attendance at the Ramada Hotel Belfast on Monday 19^th January for the annual Belfast Telegraph NI Sports Awards.

It proved to be another great night for Tyrone GAA as Sean Cavanagh added the prestigious ‘Player of the Year’ award to his already bulging trophy cabinet for 2009, and Tyrone Senior Footballers also scooped the ‘Team of the Year’ award.

Pictured is Tyrone manager Mickey Harte receiving the Team of the Year award on behalf of the Tyrone Senior Footballers.  (Courtesy of belfasttelegraph.co.uk)

There were also several other nominations for GAA sportsmen, as Mickey Harte was nominated for Coach/Manager of the Year, and All Ireland Minor Football Champions Tyrone were shortlisted for Young Team of the Year.

2009 Coaching Conference Launched

Yesterday’s Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup game between Tyrone and Monaghan saw the launch of the 2009 O’Neills Ulster GAA Coaching Conference which is due to take place this Saturday 24^th January in the Glenavon House Hotel,  Cookstown.

This year the Ulster GAA Coaching Conference, sponsored once again by O’ Neill’s, is targeting coaches who work in the nursery and juvenile sections of our clubs. This is a very important area within our clubs. It is at this stage of the young player’s development that the right building blocks are set down for their future progress and development.

Clubs are now running nursery sessions with under 6’s and fundamentals up to Under 8 and 10 with more sports specific activity up to under 12 and 14. The Minister’s Sport in Schools programme is delivering physical literacy to Foundation and Key Stage 1 pupils (up to primary 4). Teachers in the Schools also have a responsibility for delivering the new curriculum and embedded in this is the Fundamental Movement Skills Programme (FMS) being delivered by the Education and Library Boards.

The Conference explores how all stakeholders have a common goal, the physical literacy and health of our young people and the development of better technical and tactically aware children and youth who feed into our Gaelic Games.

As we move forward the “what” we coach becomes increasingly important. Of equal importance is the “how” we coach – as the coach / player interaction often influences the young persons’ future involvement in our games. We are joined by some of Irelands leading coaches and educationalists who will share their expertise, knowledge, ideas and concerns as we “strive to meet the needs of the future generation of GAA players in Ulster”.

Kieran Kennedy, O’Neills Managing Director stated:

“O’Neills International Sportswear are delighted to be associated with the Ulster GAA Coaching Conference for the second year in succession.  As a company, we are synonomous with GAA and we are privileged to be a part of this highly successful event in the GAA calendar”.

Please note that only those who have preregistered for the conference are able to attend as all places are now fully booked.

CDP – A Yearly Coaching Programme

January 28, 2009
7:30 pm	to	9:00 pm

Venue: Loughry College, Cookstown (Food Technology Room 5)
Info: This theory session will specifically look at a number of issues relating to the development of GAA players including fitness testing, heart rate monitoring, performance analysis, physiotherapy, nutrition and hydration.
Tutors: Specialist SINI Coaches

Please note the above course is open to everyone and are free of charge.

Contact: Should you have any queries please contact Tony Scullion 07795120438.

GL Dr McKenna Cup Round-Up

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Section B Round 3
Tyrone 1-18  Monaghan 0-17

Sean Cavanagh and Stephen O’Neill helped themselves to 7 points each as Tyrone beat Monaghan 1-18 to 0-17 in an entertaining tussle at Healy Park Omagh on Sunday.

The win however was not enough to see Tyrone through to the Semi Finals and Monaghan also suffered the same fate.

Thomas Freeman was in clinical form for Monaghan and finished with a personal tally of 10 points, but the decisive score of the game came from midfielder Enda McGinley in the 22^nd minute as he powered through to drive a low left-foot shot into the Monaghan net.

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Section A Round 3
Derry 0-13  Donegal 0-13

In what was essentially a dead-rubber game in Dungiven on Sunday, Derry needed 2 late points from Bellaghy corner forward Eoghan Brown to clinch a draw with Donegal.

Donegal had already previously qualified for the Semi-Final stage following earlier wins over UUJ and Fermanagh; Derry’s previous draw against Fermanagh and defeat to UUj meant that they were unable to make the latter stages of the competition.

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Section C Round 3
Cavan 1-7  Armagh 0-9

On Saturday night, under the floodlights of Kingspan Breffni Park, Cavan stole victory at the death via a 72^nd minute long range point from Nicholas Walsh.

Ronan Clarke top scored for Armagh with 0-5, while Gerald Pierson grabbed the Cavan goal.

The victory for Cavan was somewhat in vein as Queens topped Section C, and Armagh joined them in the Semi-Finals as best runners-up.

—

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Semi-Finals:
Wednesday 21st January:
Section A Winners (Donegal)  v  Best Runners Up (Armagh) at Healy Park Omagh (7.30pm)
Thursday 22nd January:
Section B Winners (Down)  v  Section C Winners (Queens) at Pairc Esler Newry (7.30pm)

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Final:
Saturday 24th January:
Donegal / Armagh  v  Down / Queens at Venue TBC (7.30pm)

—

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Final Tables

Section A	P	W	D	L	For	Against	Scoring Average	Pts
Donegal	3	2	1	0	47	34	1.382	5
Fermanagh	3	1	1	1	32	33	0.970	3
Derry	3	0	2	1	33	36	0.917	2
UUJ	3	1	0	2	38	47	0.809	2

Section B	P	W	D	L	For	Against	Scoring Average	Pts
Down	3	2	0	1	53	34	1.559	4
Tyrone	3	2	0	1	48	50	0.960	4
Monaghan	3	1	0	2	45	49	0.918	2
St Mary’s	3	1	0	2	43	56	0.768	2

Section C	P	W	D	L	For	Against	Scoring Average	Pts
Queens	3	2	0	1	59	34	1.735	4
Armagh	3	2	0	1	36	32	1.125	4
Cavan	3	2	0	1	36	43	0.837	4
Antrim	3	0	0	3	29	51	0.569	0