More beds needed to host GAA players

GAA Meath club makes plea ahead of Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta

GAA clubs often go in search of something or someone they need to sustain themselves such as volunteers, a manager for their first team, a sponsor to provide essential finance but Clann na nGael are looking for something else; something a bit different. They are looking for, wait for it, beds - up to 2,000 of them if possible.

The club are seeking to provide accommodation for what promises to be an invasion of footballers and mentors into Meath next June Bank Holiday.

It is then the Clann na nGael club will be hosting the Ráth Chairn-based 'Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta 2025,' one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, annual football tournament in the GAA schedule.

"It's a massive event," said Michéal O Tiomain, a member of the Clann na nGael Comórtas Organising Committee.

For a few days in mid-summer an estimated 4,000 people will descend on the renowned Meath Gaeltacht and surrounding area for a festival of football that will involved some of the most talented and most famous footballers in the country. Players from the Royal County who turned out in the tournament in the past include Graham Geraghty, Adam O'Neill and Cian Ward.

The logistical challenges involved are certainly formidable with the host club expected to tick a huge range of boxes from ensuring the bars are well stocked, food is available, referees are appointed, medical personnel are in attendance, adequate parking is on hand and necessary security measures are in place - and that's only some of the requirements.

O Tíomáin points out that the hosts are also required to ensure visiting players and mentors have somewhere to rest their heads. That, he adds without hesitation, is the most formidable, awkward, intractable problem of all for the organisers, especially now as Ireland is deep in a housing crisis.

"There are a lot of logistical issues in organising an event like the Comórtas but the biggest problem by far is finding accommodation for the people who will be involved. Everything else is doable but this is more difficult," he adds.

"We need accommodation for somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 people, we are obliged to do that. Ideally what we are seeking is 2,000 beds but at the moment we are approximately half way towards reaching our target, we have around 600 beds confirmed. The host club has to ensure they are available, that's the way it has always been done. We are looking for empty houses, empty beds."

Householders who host player and/or mentors will received €45 per person per night, including breakfast. "If you don't want to supply a breakfast you (the host) gets €40 per head and people can get their breakfast out at the marquee in Rath Chairn."

The tournament will be covered extensively by TG4 with up to 150,000 people expected to tune in for the finals with a huge boost for the local economy assured.

O Tíomáin knows very well what's involved for any host club because through the years he has attended quite a few tournaments in various Irish-speaking parts of the country.

"The first time I went to the Comórtas was in 1990 in and all we stayed in was houses that time, there were no hotels involved. The first hotel I stayed in during the Comórtas was in Waterville when Mick O'Dwyer was the manager of Kildare but most of the time it was never hotels.

"When I was attending the Comórtas as a player with Ráth Chairn, or An Gaeltacht as we were known, we used to sleep six or eight lads in a room or more, that would still be acceptable. If a team is knocked out the players go and enjoy the rest of the weekend. It's a brilliant weekend, especially if you're involved as a player."

To help with the preparations for the festival of football the organisers have received a grant of €150,000 from Rionn na Gaeltachta to carry out work on the pitch in Ráth Cháirn including new dugouts, new goals, nets, some drainage and new fencing.

Matches will take place over the course of the weekend in Ráth Chairn as in nearby locations including Athboy, Dunderry and on the pitches belonging to the Wolfe Tone club at Kilberry. On the Monday all the junior ladies, senior ladies, junior men and senior men finals will be staged in Ráth Chairn.

A lot has been done already to prepare for the invasion but that issue of beds remains nagging, persistent problem for the organisers.

""People are a lot more careful these days I suppose to open their doors to strangers but the people who attend Comortas are not football hooligans, they are decent people, a lot of them are married couples, families and all that, they just go to enjoy the weekend."

* Those interested in providing accommodation can contact: coisteloistincng@gmail.com or Cathal Seoghe (085) 7686459.