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Weekly Notes - 8th February 2006

In the old days – cue, violin strings in sentimental mode! – clubs grew naturally out of the needs of close-knit communities, primarily rural, with long histories. Essentially a club had its identity in the service it was providing to the local community. Nowadays the converse situation prevails. With urbanisation has come large amorphous housing developments occupied by people who have, for most part, no sense of connectedness. In such circumstances a conscious effort has to be made through socially cohering agents such as clubs and societies to create a sense of community. To be effective in this role, a club has to embrace as large a part as possible of this collection of individuals and nuclear units.

We, in Éire Óg, are aware that to play an effective role in community development in the Greystones area our contribution must extend beyond the mere promotion of Gaelic games; it must include a social dimension. If bonhomie and body language are anything to go by, Saturday’s Dinner Dance certainly achieved this end. It was an occasion greatly enjoyed by all. Its success owed much to the trojan work and meticulous attention to detail of the two-man organising committee, Fergus O’Brien and Ray Barry.

Speeches and presentations are part and parcel of such occasions and we are all aware of their potential for tedium. Mercifully, on Saturday, all speeches were of the donkey’s gallop variety and the presentations went off with admirable efficiency and, in effect, added to the enjoyment of the night. The guests of honour were the Junior A champions of 1965 (40 yrs).

They were obviously a hardy bunch of lads as all but two of the panel (Ricky Kirwan and Michael Carroll R.I.P.) are still in the land of the living. Most of the remainder live locally. Ricky Kirwan was represented by his sister, Veronica O’Reilly, Chairman of the Town Council while Michael Carroll was represented by his widow. Unfortunately, Jimmy Brady was unable, through illness, to attend. We extend our best wishes to Jimmy in these anxious times. The Brady family has a long association with the club; Jimmy’s father, Paddy, was chairman in 1965, his brother George oversaw the building of the old dressing rooms in 1990 and Jimmy himself was a juvenile mentor throughout the 80s.

Paddy O’Reilly, one of the 1965 players not living locally, is father of the well-known sports broadcaster, Damian O’Reilly.

Incidentally, a 19 year-old Ray Barry was captain of the team and also acted as club secretary – wouldn’t it be great if some of our younger members to-day could be enticed into a part in the club’s administration? His father, John, his Uncle Tom Swan and Paddy Brady all deceased, together with Des Mitchell constituted the selection committee.

The night was much more than a nostalgia fest so a lot remains to be told. see next week.

The u-10 and u-12 hurlers were again in action at the weekend in Kilcoole. The u-12s posted a clean sweep of victories over Kilcoole, St. Feargals and Bray Emmets. A win over Bray at any level in hurling is an event to note so well done lads!

Paddy Taylor, Darren Hayden and Craig Smullen were members of the Wicklow Vocational Schools county panel which defeated a highly fancied Offaly on Saturday. Unfortunately, Craig was unable to travel because of illness but Paddy at centre-back and Darren at corner-forward both played the full 60 minutes. Darren contributed 2 points to the Wicklow total.