Waterford Club wins Ulster Bank GAA Force

Ulster Bank GAA Force, a community initiative which supports local GAA clubs across the country, has announced Erin’s Own GAA Club in Waterford as the winner of this year’s top prize. Over 500 clubs from all over Ireland entered the competition and Erin’s Own GAA Club has emerged with a support package worth €25,000 to refurbish and upgrade their facilities.

Four clubs, one from each province were also announced as runner-up and will each receive support packages worth €5,000. They were Clooney Quin GAA Club (Clare), Two Mile House GAA Club (Kildare), Eire Óg GAA Club (Roscommon) and St. Ergnat’s GAC Moneyglass (Antrim).

This is the second year of the initiative which coincides with Ulster Bank’s sponsorship of the GAA Football All-Ireland Championships. Already over the past two seasons, Ulster Bank GAA Force has attracted entries from almost 1,000 clubs. €90,000 worth of much needed support has been provided to the 10 clubs to win the top level prizes, while 200 further clubs have received smaller support packages worth €100.

The first two years of this great initiative has also been responsible for assembling a signifianct number of volunteers to help out at the designated Ulster Bank GAA Force Winning Weekends for the lucky clubs to carry out their particular renovations. This season’s winners will come together over the coming months.

The overall winner, Erin’s Own GAA Club in Waterford, is at the heart of the local community but like most small GAA clubs, they have always struggled to make ends meet. Winning the support package of €25,000, will allow them to greatly enhance their facilities, attract new members and sort out overcrowding issues in their compact changing rooms. With the prize the club plans to modernise their facilities and construct a ball wall. Members from Ulster Bank Custom House Quay and Dungarvan in Waterford and club volunteers will be on hand to help during the club’s winning weekend to convert a storage building into a juvenile changing room, adult changing room and add a female/disabled toilet.

The four runners-up, Clooney Quin GAA Club in Clare, Two Mile House GAA Club in Kildare, Eire Óg GAA Club in Roscommon and St. Ergnat’s GAC Moneyglass in Antrim, will use their support packages of €5,000 to develop and upgrade playing fields, carry out essential refurbishments to facilities, provide a community gym and introduce a greener energy programme sourcing materials locally.

Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Ulster Bank GAA Force Ambassador said: “It was great to see Ulster Bank GAA Force return after the success of last year. The entries have grown considerably with over 500 clubs across the country entering the initiative. In recent years GAA clubs have been finding it extremely difficult to maintain and improve facilities due to funding and Ulster Bank GAA Force has provided clubs with this unique opportunity of carrying out necessary refurbishments while bringing their community together. “

Speaking at the announcement of the Ulster Bank GAA Force winners, Phelim Dowling, Secretary, Erin’s Own GAA Club, said: “Erin’s Own has survived for 88 years and we have always made the best of our resources over the years. We are proud of our achievements and development work to date however winning Ulster Bank GAA Force will permit us to provide the modern facilities that may otherwise be beyond our reach. Everyone here at the club is extremely grateful for this support and we look forward to this exciting new time for us.”

The Ulster Bank GAA Force initiative was open to all GAA clubs, who were asked to submit their entries on Ulster Bank’s dedicated GAA website – www.ulsterbank.com/gaa. Entrants were asked to provide details of their club’s plans to make improvements, outline the role of the club in their locality and the benefits the makeover would have on the club, and the wider community. The first 100 clubs who registered also received a mini support package to the value of €100.