Beara GAA Website Launch

By John Bohane (Evening Echo 31/7/2018) Photos courtesy of Tony McElhinney. 

Cork County Board Chairperson Tracey Kennedy recently launched the official Beara GAA website which was held in Berehaven Lodge.

Her visit proved a resounding success as the popular administrator marked her two day visit to the picturesque region with a visit to all the six divisional clubs who make up the Beara division. Throughout the course of her visit, Tracey saw at first hand all the hard work the various club administrators, coaches, players and supporters are investing for the sheer love of their beloved respective clubs.

Beara PRO Joseph Blake was delighted with the nature of her visit to the beautiful peninsula. “There was a lot of planning that went into the trip and I must thank the clubs and Tracey for their co-operation. Her visit to the peninsula proved a resounding success,” revealed the Adrigole man. 

The Cork County Board Chairperson had a very busy schedule during her successful visit to the Beara region. Tracey met with the various club personnel who oversee the day-to-day running of the six clubs who due to their geographical situation often operate under very extreme conditions. Their rural location always ensures that emigration is a big problem for the vast majority of the Beara divisional clubs. Tracey’s visit to each of the clubs was very well received acknowledged Joseph. “Tracey visited the Glengarriff, Urhan and Garnish clubs on her first day in the region, before she attended the website launch. On her second day in the peninsula, she visited the Bere Island, Castletownbere and Adrigole clubs. During her visit to each of the clubs she met with officers and members of each club. She was very engaging, listening to their viewpoints and discussing any concerns the clubs would have. It was great that Tracey got to hear the clubs views at their own club grounds. She was able to see the passion, commitment and enthusiasm that is spread across all the clubs for the GAA. The clubs were delighted with her visit and the effort she made to visit each club. Tracey was delighted with the stunning scenery we have in Beara, so hopefully she will be a regular visitor to Beara in the future.”

The main reason for her visit to the tranquil region was to exclusively launch their new official website which is designed to provide vital GAA news for their supporters both at home and overseas. Tracey made a very impressive speech during the launch night. “Tracey touched on a few different issues in her speech. She was delighted with the Beara Divisional Board launching their website and the quality of the finished product. She found it very informative which will appeal to all supporters located both nationwide and overseas. She was delighted to see that the Beara ladies had been included on the website and this was very progressive to have GAA and ladies GAA working closely in Beara. She also highlighted the huge contribution Beara has made to Cork in terms of players and administrators down through the year. She also praised the vital role Beara GAA has played in the progress of Cork GAA.”

The Beara GAA Divisional Board possess a very hard working and progressive team of individuals drawn from all the six member clubs. Attention for the various club personnel will swiftly return to on field manners over the coming weeks with championship action ramping up considerably. Beara GAA officials will continue working hard behind the scenes as they strive to ensure their division goes from strength to strength. “Over the last few months the off field focus has been on getting the website developed and on the launch night. The next few months will be pretty hectic on the field as we have Junior A, B and U21 championships along with the Beara U21 team and a number of our clubs playing in various county championships. We are constantly exploring ideas for new projects and events. Hopefully we will announce something in the near future.”

Beara underage age teams have made great strides in recent seasons. A number of players from the various Beara clubs have represented Cork underage teams with great distinction. The continued progress of the clubs has been very much inspired by the top class coaching being served up by a plethora of volunteers across the region revealed Joseph. “There is great coaching and development going on in Beara at the moment and this is reflective of the different Beara players involved with Cork teams across all levels. The key is to be able to bring those players through from juvenile to adult level and a sustained pathway plan must be in place to allow this to happen. This can only be done with co-operation between the clubs and the Beara Coiste and Beara Board.”

The Beara U21 footballers are due to play Douglas in the A championship in the foreseeable future. Joseph is hopeful they will enjoy a strong championship campaign. “We are due to play Douglas in the first round, but due to the great success various Cork hurling teams are having, the game is on hold. We have a management team of Peter Murphy (Glengarriff), Donagh Wiseman (Castletownbere), Seamus Murphy (Garnish) and William O’Sullivan (Adrigole). All four of them have previously won the county U21 championship with Beara. They boast great experience. It would be a great boost if Beara enjoyed a sustained championship run.”