Speak a bit of Irish and new GAA Club could be for you

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

IT’S a bold move to start a new GAA club in any part of the country – given the parochial nature of the Association – but to do so with the primary aim of promoting the Irish language outside the traditional Gaeltacht areas does seem to have a touch of madness about it.

Yet, Gaeil na Gaillimhe, based in Galway City, has done just that and already both their men’s and women’s adult teams have fielded in 2016 county league fixtures. The men’s team only swung into action last Sunday and, despite losing 2-9 to 1-5 to Micheál Breathnach in Division 7 (West) of the league, it was a solid showing for their maiden sojourn.

The whole idea of establishing a new club came about before Christmas when Stephen Joyce and Evelyn Fennelly met at a ThinkDay conference in Dublin, an event which included a brainstorming session between different groups to look at new and innovative ways to promoting the Irish language.

One of the groups there was from Na Gaeil Óga GAA Club in Dublin. “That club started in 2010, much like ourselves, with seven or eight lads and a dog down kicking a ball in the Phoenix Park and now they have over 300 active members,” outlines 26-year-old Knocknacarra man Joyce.

“They have two men’s teams, a women’s team, a hurling team, a camogie team and two or three underage teams. They have given us a lot of advice. They are always at the end of a phone if you need advice and it is very practical advice.

“They are training in the Phoenix Park at the moment but they launched a campaign a couple of nights ago for a permanent home and the plans are very ambitious. From what they have achieved so far, it is unbelievable.”

Graiguecullen native Eoin Ó Broin (24), who plays with Gaeil na Gaillimhe, is familiar with the Dublin club as he was living in the capital at the time of its establishment. “It is an all-Irish language club in Dublin and it was set up by people in the city who wanted to play ball through Irish.

“At the time I was asked to play but I was still working at home in Laois in the Summer and I wasn’t going to transfer. However, I think it has shown the shift in demographics towards Irish. Urban Irish speakers aren’t a rarity anymore. That is probably where the vast majority of Irish is going to be spoken in the future and there is going to be a need for clubs like this.”

For Galway GAA’s part, they have thrown their weight behind the venture and, to this end, have provided Pearses Stadium to Gaeil na Gaillimhe to fulfil their ‘home’ league fixtures. It’s not a surprising move, given Galway CEO John Hynes mooted the idea of establishing a new club at last year’s County Convention.

His premise was totally valid. He argued that if you have only a handful of GAA clubs serving the needs of a city the size of Galway, it means that only 60 to 80 teenagers, for example at minor level, will be afforded the opportunity to play club championship in any given year.

He noted that this was totally inadequate to cater for the large playing base of such a population at that level – it has to be a factor in player fall-off – and stated there was a “need to knock heads together at Committee level and come up with proposals”.

No wonder then, Galway GAA has backed the new club given that Gaeil na Gaillimhe could, potentially, form at least part of the solution to the current predicament. “I think that is part of the reason John Hynes is being so supportive. Obviously, we would be operating at a very small scale but there is a need for more clubs in the City,” says Joyce.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.