Éire Óg to protest outside Cusack Park

ÉIRE Óg GAA Club will be taking to the streets of Ennis next week as they step up their protest against the decision not to allow them to field teams at U-12 level.
On Wednesday evening next, before the Munster Minor Hurling Championship game between Clare and Waterford at Cusack Park, club members will stage a protest outside the county grounds to highlight their views on the current position.
However, this protest will not go ahead should an appeal by the club to the Hearings committee on this Thursday night prove successful.
During the winter months, Sixmilebridge man PJ Fitzpatrick was appointed by Clare GAA to examine the situation with regard to juvenile GAA in the capital. He met with both clubs in the town, Éire Óg and Banner, as well as with the urban board. At the request of one of the parties, the Munster Council was brought into the discussions.
A report was produced and this recommended that each of the units in the town would be allowed to field teams at U-12 level. Éire Óg welcomed the findings while the urban board rejected the findings. The GAA decided not to press ahead with the report and opted to stay with the status quo to the annoyance of Éire Óg.
“We are in a position where we can’t field teams below the U-14 grade. We have an academy going for the past three years where we are coaching kids from U-6 to U-12. It is proving very successful with biG numbers attending but the county board won’t recognise this. In addition to coaching the kids, we are trying to give them an identity as well. We had to do something as our results at U-14 level for the past couple of years are poor. We are currently competing at C level at U-14 and we are getting hockeyed,” explained Éire Óg’s Bernie O’Brien, founder of the academy, this week.
“All clubs outside of Ennis have academies for their young members and they are progressing,” he said.
“We need to get something done. We have an appeal with the Clare Hearings Committee this Thursday and should we be successful there, then the protest scheduled for Wednesday will not go ahead. We have written to the board looking for the results of all urban board teams over the last 10 years. These will show all Ennis teams have got poor results in that time. What we are trying to do is to improve the position of our club,” explained O’Brien.
Organising next week’s protest is not the only action being taken by the Ennis club. “We have also returned all tickets for the county board draw and we will not be participating in this until there is a satisfactory resolution to this issue,” O’Brien concluded.