Tag Archives: GOAL

A CLARE woman is calling on people throughout the county to go the distance and register to do a virtual GOAL Mile this Christmas to support the world’s most vulnerable communities. The appeal has come from Muireann Lohan, after GOAL announced that the traditional GOAL Mile will be going virtual this year due to Covid-19 restrictions. For the past number of years thousands of people all over Clare have turned out in their communities and parishes every Christmas to walk, run or jog a GOAL Mile. Funds raised go towards supporting GOAL’s work in 13 countries in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. According to Muireann, who has been a GOAL Mile organiser for years, it is more vital than ever that people support the GOAL Mile this year. “Whilst this Christmas we are all being asked to keep apart due to Covid-19, we can still stand together for GOAL by registering to complete a virtual GOAL Mile. Whether it’s …

Clonlara 1-11 Crusheen 0-13 An injury time goal from Cian Moriarty saw Clonlara win the Clare Champion cup (senior hurling league) at the expense of Crusheen in a well contested final at a well appointed Glenomra Park in Broadford this afternoon. In an entertaining game in which the sides were level on four occasions, the result was in doubt right to the final whistle. Indeed, after Moriarty’s goal, Crusheen had an opportunity to draw level or maybe win the game but Cian Dillon’s effort on goal was stopped and the final whistle followed leaving Clonlara as champions for the first time since 2009 Points were exchanged twice in the opening ten minutes before Crusheen opened a two point lead by the end of the first quarter and they went on to lead by three at half time when the score was 0-8 to 0-5. Both sides were guilty of mistakes and missed changes and, in the case of the latter, …

BACK in 1995, Mountshannon woman Ann McNamara decided to leave her job with an insurance company and work with Concern in Bangladesh for a two-year period. More than 20 years later, she is still working with an organisation responding to crisis situations. An assistant country director with GOAL, based in Antakya on the Turkey/Syria border for six months, Ann says spending Christmas away from home and family has become the norm. “Over the 22 years I have been overseas, I have probably spent two or three Christmases back in Ireland,” she says. “This is normal for me. It’s so crazy here you don’t even realise it’s Christmas.” Ann initially worked with Concern for 11 years as a regional HR advisor, before working with Oxfam and then Save the Children UK in South Sudan. She returned to Concern in 2011 to work as an assistant country director in Liberia for two years and then spent one year in Lebanon. “I finished my …

A call has gone out for people to consider organising a GOAL Mile in their area this Christmas, as part of the aid agency’s bid to draw attention to some of the many humanitarian crises that they are responding to across the developing world. GOAL is currently responding to the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, where they will soon be managing a treatment centre for Ebola patients in the west of the country. They also have extensive programmes in South Sudan and Syria, where millions of people continue to suffer from conflict and food shortages. Inagh man, Damien Queally of Plan Ireland is one key figures in coordinating operations to deal with the Ebola crisis in West Africa, which should provide an even greater incentive for people in Clare to support the local GOAL Mile. GOAL’s CEO, Barry Andrews is asking the people of the county to try top last year’s number  of events over the Christmas and New Year period. …

By Seamus Hayes Sixmilebridge will host the annual GOAL charity match involving the newly crowned All-Ireland  hurling champions on this Wednesday evening(October 2) at 7.30p.m. The match will be between an A and B Clare selection and all funds raised will go to the GOAL charity. Admission will be €5 and children under 16 will be admitted free of charge. Its expected that the entire All-Ireland senior squad will be involved in what has become an annual post All-Ireland final match involving the winners. Initially the match featured the newly crowned champions against a Rest of Ireland selection but more recently the champions have faced the club title holders in their county. With round 2 in the Clare senior hurling championship scheduled  for this coming weekend, the organisers have opted for an A v B game. The match will p rovide an oppostunity for fans to meet up with the players that ended a sixteen year wait for Clare on …