Raising the profile of Games

Date Published: {J}

Keith Kelly

The newly-appointed CEO of the Community Games says one of his first challenges will be to restore the profile of the 32-county organisation back to the position it once held.

Henry Street native John Byrne, who takes up his new role today (Tuesday), says the volunteering aspect synonymous with the Community Games has remained as strong as ever, but admits that the profile of the organisation has slipped somewhat in recent years.

“I’m lucky in a way as I am coming in just as a new five-year plan has been adopted, so that immediately gives me something to work with and towards,” Byrne says.

“One of the first things I intend to do is work on the profile of the organisation. The Community Games remains as strong as it ever was, but maybe it has slipped a little from the consciousness of people, and that is something I intend to address,” he says.

When asked if the decision to move the national finals from its traditional base of Mosney back in 2009, to the more central Athlone IT, had a part in this drop in profile, Byrne is quick to rule this out, making the distinction between an ‘association’ and ‘identity’.

“Mosney was always associated with the Community Games, but it didn’t give it its identity. It was a great facility, but the facilities in Athlone are excellent and that is just one of the many messages we, as an organisation, want to work on getting across.

“The Community Games has an absolutely huge volunteer cohort and a huge number of participants, and if you ask anyone who ever competed in the Community Games, they’ll tell you they have some great memories from their involvement.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.