Rural life to be preserved in a'moment of time' film

OVER the Summer months, a new GAA pilot initiative has been running locally, aimed at raising the profile of Gaelic games – and participation levels – in Galway City.

As part of its National Strategic and Vision Plan, the GAA made an investment of €200,000 in its National Urban Programme in an effort to promote Gaelic games in 11 urban centres around the country, including Galway, Dublin, Sligo, Belfast, Derry and Cork.

Charged with spearheading the venture in Galway City has been Michael ‘Bosco’ Gallagher, who has been busy spreading the GAA gospel to those who, previously, may only have had a cursory interest in Gaelic games.

“Basically, we are covering three target areas, which would be the children aged eight to 12; the teenagers, 13 to 15; and the adults, through the recreational games, namely Camán Abú (hurling) and Peil Abú (football),” outlines the Ballinderreen native.

“The programme is aimed at children and adults, who might never have played the game before. So, I picked out areas like Renmore, which would be a stronghold for St. James’, Castlegar and Liam Mellows. Initially, the numbers, as regards children, were between 15 and 20 and a lot of these kids never had played the game before.”

Another area he has targeted is Doughiska. “The DRA (Doughiska Residents Association) held a camp and there were over 96 kids involved in it. A lot of the children were non nationals. It went on for a week and I had my football and hurling up there, alongside soccer and rugby. So, it was like an introduction for these children to the various sports.

“We also ran the Camán Abú and Peil Abú up there and we had people from the likes of Poland, who had never played the game, coming out. Although I had problems thinking of and pronouncing their names – I also don’t think they understood the non contact element of it, but that could have been down to my English – it was good fun.”

In many respects, the initiative is about making the GAA even more relevant and accessible in a modern, ever changing Ireland. It is no secret that, for some time, the GAA has been concerned with the fall-off in participation levels, due to other attractions and less active lifestyles, in the large urban areas.

Consequently, the aim of this initiative is two-fold. One, it is to provide games for those children who may have no ties with the local GAA club in their area, and, secondly, to entice more adults, particularly parents, in the broader community to take an interest in Gaelic games.

To achieve the latter, the GAA devised the two new recreational games, Camán Abú and Peil Abú, which they launched at GAA Congress earlier this year. Gallagher says the response to these games in the City has been very positive.

“We targeted two areas in the city,” he continues. “We introduced Peil Abú into the Doughiska area while Renmore hosted the Camán Abú. That has been going very well. In the adult recreational games, we had 35 to 40 people playing and many of them had never played before.

“In fact, a good few from the tag rugby joined us for the Peil Abú after those competitions finished . . . and they enjoyed it. The Camán Abú, though, was slow enough to take off, but the numbers are picking up now. We did it last night in the Prairie and we had 18 adults playing it. 

“I think, though, these games can be big. Coming from a hurling background myself, the Peil Abú is great fun. I would never have played tag rugby either, but listening to the tag rugby people, they have been saying the Peil Abú is better because, once you get tagged, you hand over the ball straight away and the game continues on.

“So, it is more of a free-flowing game. They seem to enjoy it and, I mean, again, a lot of them would never have played Gaelic or, indeed, come from a Gaelic games background. So, it is good that way,” states the City Games Development Officer, who also notes these games could also be used to attract more volunteers into the clubs.

The highlight for many was playing in Croke Park on the day of the Kilkenny v Waterford All-Ireland senior hurling semi-final. “We had two Galway teams up that day,” says Gallagher. “Portumna were on one side of the field and we had a team up from Renmore, which would have been made up of people from Liam Mellows, Salthill and Knocknacarra. It was nine-a-side and they loved it.”

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