Community Games activist blasts Kilrush parents’ lack of interest

KILRUSH man Martin Fennell, who was one of just four people to turn up to the parish’s Community Games AGM on October 22, has launched a blistering attack on Kilrush parents who he says show no interest in getting involved with the organisation or indeed any community group.

 

“I don’t blame the kids. I blame the parents. If you go to any other parish, you’ll have parents tripping over one another to help. We held the AGM in Kilrush and there were only four at it. They were Dr Mary O’Sullivan, myself, Carmel and Senan Miniter. That was it. We had it in the newsletter and in The Clare Champion. It’s unbelievable the lack of interest we have in Kilrush,” Mr Fennell said this week.

He claimed that either starting any community organisation or keeping existing ones afloat in Kilrush is virtually impossible.
“There’s no interest in the town of Kilrush. It’s impossible to get anything off the ground inside there. Then they’ll turn around and tell you ‘oh, there’s nothing for kids to do’. You’re fighting against the grain all the time to get anything off the ground,” he reiterated adding parents are not prepared to help.

“There’s some parents inside there in Kilrush and they’d wait until you wipe their snot for them every time. They just don’t want to be involved.

They don’t want to give up the time. If you mentioned to one of them ‘listen, we have Community Games in Ennis next Sunday in Lees Road,’ they’d say, ‘I couldn’t give up my Sunday. Are you joking me? That’s my day off.’ That’s the attitude. You’d be shocked to hear the attitude,” Mr Fennell maintained.

He explained how he tried to recruit children to take part in Community Games but many of them didn’t turn up when they were expected to.
“I went around to the schools in the last two years to get kids out. I went out to Burrane, up to Shragh, back to Moyasta and into Kilrush trying to get kids signed up. I got a lot of kids signed up last year but when it came down to the actual day of turning up in Ennis, half of them didn’t turn up. The ones that did turn up were country ones from the parish of Kilrush, not from the town. There’s umpteen kids running in with St Mary’s AC and St John’s AC. There’s a lot of kids winning races,” he pointed out.
What further frustrates the Ballykett man is that dozens of children are running for their respective schools in Kilrush.

“I’d say without fear of contradiction that between the Gaelscoil and the primary school in Kilrush, there’d be 70 to 80 kids training on a Monday and Thursday evening. Take even half of them and surely to God, 50% of them would represent their parish at Community Games level?” he suggested.
Mr Fennell said he felt embarrassed on some occasions when present in Ennis at the county Community Games.

“It galls me to go over to the county Community Games. There are 35 parishes there and we could be the smallest parish there, number-wise, and we’re the biggest parish population-wise. You see parishes like Kilkishen and they could have 30 to 40 athletes over there. It starts at home.  The parents of the parish of Kilrush have to encourage their kids to get out. There’s plenty there for them,” he maintained.

Unless there is a significant increase in the number of people helping out with the organisation of Community Games in Kilrush, the town will not be represented in 2013 as the outgoing committee has stepped down.

“I’d gladly give a hand at Community Games no bother in the world and I know four or five people who’d gladly give a hand in the morning. But they’re just fed up of this negative attitude. We did this to see if we could waken someone up. There’s a couple of thousand people inside in the parish of Kilrush,” Mr Fennell said, noting in conclusion that any Kilrush children competing in Community Games next year will have to join Cooraclare to do so.