Gala occasion as minister welcomes camogie investment

JUST 10% of women in Ireland are participating regularly in sport and physical activity said Sports Minister John O’Donoghue yesterday.

He was speaking at the launch of the expanded 2006 All-Ireland senior camogie championship and the announcement of the Association’s first commercial sponsor, the convenience retailer Gala.

Welcoming the sponsorship, Mr O’Donoghue said it was clear that in the 75th year of the competition, camogie had grown to become one of the most popular and widely played female sports in the country. “The pioneers who organised the first game in Pairc Tailteann in 1904 would be very proud of the continuing popularity of their beloved sport’’ he said.

Saying that in the past the important role of women in supporting, administering and playing sport had been overlooked, the Minister said that the link between participation in physical activity and sport and the enhancement of health and quality of life had been clearly established.

The Government recognised this through the increase in funding for sport in general from €17m in 1997 to over €243m. Additional funding to the Irish Sports Council in 2006 includes €1.5m to assist in the development of hurling and camogie on a nationwide basis. And, so far this year the Camogie Association has received almost €360,000.

Newly elected President Liz Howard remarked that Gala — who have 200 stores nationally and employ over 3,000 people — were community-based, just like the Camogie Association. “We will work together to promote both of us and progress each other,’’ she commented.

The sponsorship (featuring a ‘substantial’ six-figure investment) is for an initial two-year term, she pointed out. It heralded a new era in terms of commercial sponsorship which was vital to their future development.

She stressed the importance of government funding by pointing out that it had enabled them to appoint three new full-time development officers — dual Cork All-Ireland and National League medal-winner Mary O’Connor being one of them — who were now fully operational.

GAA President Nickey Brennan was amongst the guests — who included Sports Council Chief Executive John Treacy, Ladies Football Association CEO Helen O’Rourke and Gala CEO Tom Keogh. He said he fully supported the decision to pair the All-Ireland Under-21 hurling final with the final of the Gala Camogie championship in Croke Park, on September 10.

This year the camogie senior championship will be played on a round-robin basis for the first time — guaranteeing each of the six teams five games.

The first round will be played on May 27 with Cork v Kilkenny, Galway v Tipperary and Limerick v Kilkenny.