Bank of Ireland launch sponsorship of the Conor McGurk Cup

Bank of Ireland, Ulster GAA & Queen’s University Belfast are delighted to announce a new sponsorship deal for the Conor McGurk Cup for the 2018 season.

The exciting new deal will see the Bank furthering their support of Gaelic games in the province that includes the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup, sponsorship of Ulster University and Tyrone GAA and now the Bank of Ireland Conor McGurk Cup.

The competition will become part of the official Ulster GAA Gaelic games calendar in 2018. The six featured teams (Antrim, Down, Donegal, Tyrone, Ulster University & hosts QUB) will compete in a round robin league section before the top team in each group meet in a showcase final on the Arena Pitch at Queen’s Sport, Upper Malone.

Speaking on the announcement at Queens Lanyon Building, William Thompson, Head of Consumer Banking NI, Bank of Ireland UK, said:

“We’re delighted to launch this new sponsorship in partnership with Ulster GAA and Queen’s University Belfast to provide hurlers the opportunity to prepare early and play in a pre-league competition. We’re also privileged to honour the memory of Conor McGurk and encourage other young players to develop their talent even further.”

Oliver Galligan, Ulster GAA Vice-President added:

‘‘Ulster GAA is delighted to launch the Bank of Ireland Conor McGurk Cup for 2018 – the first year that the tournament will be played under the official regulation of Comhairle Uladh having been supported by the Association for the previous 3 years.’’

‘‘Hurling in Ulster had a need for a pre National league competition that could give our teams the same preparation as the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup and the Bank of Ireland Conor McGurk Cup has, and will continue to offer that”.

‘‘Queens University Hurling Club deserve great credit for establishing and successfully running this tournament to honour Conor’s work for hurling in the University for many years ’’

‘‘We warmly welcome the Bank of Ireland as the new main sponsor of our pre-season hurling competition and look forward to working with them on enhancing it’s profile in the upcoming series of games’’

Aaron Carey, Queen’s University Hurling Club Chairperson added:

‘‘Conor McGurk was a leader for the sport of Hurling at Queen’s for many years and the continuation of this tournament is a fantastic legacy of his great contribution to the development of the sport at the University.

‘‘It is a great honour for us to host these ever exciting games and with Ulster GAA and Bank of Ireland working with us this year we can all expect great things from the Conor McGurk Cup in 2018’’.

The dates laid out for the 2018 Bank of Ireland Conor McGurk Cup are as follows:

• Sunday 17th December
• Tuesday 2nd January
• Saturday 6th January
• Saturday 13th January (Final)