Will you meet me on Clare Island?

Wednesday March 17th Paddy's Day and the drinking is easy, but the hearts and minds of Belgium GAA's finest are set on the Clare Island Tournament this Saturday 20th March.

Belgium GAA men travel to the soft and craggy isle off the coast of Mayo this weekend seeking to retain the Richard Hayes Memorial Cup. The three-way tournament features the hosts, Clare Island, Belgium GAA and Roger Casements of Coventry.

The same clubs field in the Ladies' Tournament, with our all-conquering Belgium GAA ladies travelling in strength to try and wrest the crown from the Champions, Roger Casements.

In what promises to be an intriguing three-way tussle, the home team Clare Island ladies will be hoping to upset the apple cart, but Caoimhe Ni Shuilleabhain's Belgians will be strongly fancied.

Our intrepid travellers will depart Roonagh Pier at 10am on Saturday morning. A long day of football, Gale Force Westerlies, pints of the famous 'Special', soup and sangwiches and boogeying the night away to the Saw Doctors awaits.

As the saying goes, "Up the Wesht!"

Meanwhile, tournament organiser Olof Gill is facing somewhat of a dilemma:

"It will be tough challenge for us," said Gill.

"Which team are you talking about?" asked your puzzled reporter.

"Ah well, eh, I'm confused...honesht to God" said Gill, who is facing a torrent of abuse no matter which jersey he pulls on on the day.

Reports from within the Belgium GAA camp suggest Davy Barrett is lining up a spectacular ambush on Gill, should his colours change.

"I'll knock him as far as Inishturk, like", Barrett is reported to have said.

When contacted, Mr Barrett refused to comment.

St Patrick's Day Festival in Parc Cinquantenaire This Sunday March 14th!

Belgium GAA and FC Irlande are once again jointly organising the fantastic and fun St Patrick's Day Festival in Parc Cinquantenaire in the heart of Brussels from 11:30 til late this Sunday 14th March.

Festivities will include BBQ and Bar, fun games for all the family, Gaelic Football, Hurling and Soccer, as well as music and general merrymaking...hail, rain or shine!

In the evening the festivities will continue with gusto in Bar 1898 on Rond Point Schuman with traditional Irish music, dancing and even more merrymaking!

It promises to be another famous event marking one of the highpoints of the year for the large and vibrant Irish community and friends in Brussels.

All are welcome and don't forget to invite your friends and family.

Further info: www.paddysday.be

Belgium GAA AGM 2010

2nd February

Belgium GAA held its 3rd AGM in the plush surroundings of the European Parliament. Chairman and legendary Mayo Swede Olof Gill handed over the reins to Galwayman Kevin Keary. In his speech, Olof made reference to the ongoing strides of the phenomenon that is Belgium GAA, both on and off the pitch along with some unusual references to frogs in the blue sky.

Club Secretary Becky Mattes in her short but comprehensive speech cited notable successes in 2009 such as retaining the Ladies' Pan-European Football crown and winning the Hurling title for the first time. Off the pitch, Conan MacOscair won the award for best GAA website of the year, while clubman Willie 'the Tipp Lip' Cashin was elected Chair of the European County Board in Madrid in December.

New officers elected included Conchur de Barra as Treasurer (making a welcome return to the Committee), Tipp man Big Jim McGrath as PRO, Jane Brennan as Ladies' Football Officer, Sylvia McCarthy as Camogie Officer, and Lorraine Baldwin and Phil ‘the Crusher’ Cushen who will provide the military hardware as equipment officers.

Last but by no means least, a new beefed up Fundraising Subcommittee in the form of Johnny Phelan, Pearse O’Caoimh, Aisling Fenton, Clare Appleby, Rosine Bacon and Stephanie Dunn is in place to rake in the sponds.

The highlight of the night was the election of two Honorary Presidents of Belgium GAA. These are Malachy Vallely, Director of the world-renowned Irish Institute in Leuven, and Sean Kelly MEP, who generously hosted the AGM. The former President of the GAA will doubtless be a great asset to the club in raising our profile back in Ireland, while Malachy will do the same in Belgium.

It’s shaping up to be another big year ahead for Belgium GAA so roll on the first trip to Clare Island on March 20th!

FC IRLANDE / BELGIUM GAA HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF DAY

FC Irlande and Belgium GAA are running a series of events on Saturday 30th of January to raise funds for two charities which are intimately involved in the relief and reconstruction work in Haiti.

All afternoon, we will have special events during FC Irlande's home-games. That evening we will have a special FC Idol karaoke event in de Valera's. And in the weeks leading up to this, many of our members will be running activities to raise funds.

NB Even if you cannot attend any of these, please see below how you can help!

Thanks to our amazing sponsors, de Valera's, and their partners, ALL the money generated, including bar-profits and perhaps even the cost of the drinks, will be donated, so every penny you spend will go to help people who really really need it.

Not only that, but de Valera's will match every euro donated or raised as part of this program (up to 20,000 Euros !!!!) - so if you give us one euro, the people of Haiti get two euros.

The two charities who will benefit are MSF, who are deeply involved in both the emergency relief work and the rebuilding of health care later, and Haven, a charity which has already been involved in building safe homes in Haiti and will now be looking to greatly increase its work.

Two of our own are deeply involved in these two charities, with Erwin working for MSF and Conchur already having done volunteer work in Haiti with Haven. So we can be sure that the money will be put to great use!!

Details will follow - but please keep that day free!

IMPORTANT:
Even if you can't attend our event, do not hesitate do support the causes, by making a donation as outlined below. As you can see below, we have found ways to ensure that for every euro you donate, TWO euros will go directly to help the people of Haiti !!

HOW TO MAKE A DONATION VIA BANK TRANSFER:
Make a donation directly to this FC Irlande/Belgium GAA appeal, and our extremely generous and committed sponsors, de Valera's, will DOUBLE every donation !!! You give us 20 Euros, the people of Haiti will get 40 Euros. Please transfer your contribution directly to the following bank account:

account owner/name: MCCP
communication: Haiti Fundraiser
IBAN code is BE 34 310 1397677 90
BIC Code is BBRUBEBB.

No amount is too small (or too large :) )

HOW TO DONATE ONLINE
If you prefer, you can go directly to the charity websites and make a donation. There is no need to mention our event, the only important thing is that your money is going to the right people!
If you are currently employed, take advantage of the tax-deductible opportunity. For example, instead of donating 20 Euros, you can donate 40 and get ~20 euros back as a tax-rebate next year. Note that in Belgium you must donate at least 30 euros to get tax-deductable benefit.

Medicins Sans Frontiers:
MSF keeps spending for HQ support, admin and fundraising at a minimum; in 2008, over 80 cent out of every euro donated was spent of its medical work and advocacy in over 60 countries.
If you work in Belgium, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the following link, which will make your effective donation twice as efficient!:
http://www.msf-azg.be/fr/main-menu/soutenir-msf/faire-un-don.html

Haven:
Haven is a great choice because their work will not stop when the cameras go away - they have been working there even before the quake, and will continue to work to provide better housing for the millions who desperately need it. If you're in Ireland, you can make a tax-deductible donation to Haven at this link:
https://www.havenpartnership.com/html/donate/donateonline.php

If you're not in Ireland or Belgium, you can still find your local branch of MSF and make a tax-deductible donation there (start from www.msf.org). But why not just do an international bank-transfer to the event account and let de Valera's double your money??

Willie Cashin elected County Europe Chair on historic day for Belgium GAA

Many congratulations to Belgium GAA stalwart Willie Cashin, who last weekend in Madrid was elected Chairman of the European County Board (ECB).

Willie, a dedicated hurler as well as this year's all-conquering ladies football coach, is a GAA man through and through, and the club is enormously proud to have one of our own in such an important position as we approach 2010.

Willie was elected thanks in no small part to the hard work and tireless lobbying of the Belgium GAA delegation at the ECB AGM which took place in Madrid, Spain on 5-6 December. Club chair Olof Gill, vice-chair Kevin Keary, secretary Becky Mattes and Spanish Ambassador Anay Rios went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the "Tipp Lip" landed the big job.

Congratulations also to our other club members who won positions on the 2010 County Board:

Dave Barrett: Games Development/ Coaching Officer
Kevin Keary: Club Development Officer
Becky Mattes: Camogie Officer

With such a wealth of talent and experience between them, Barrett, Cashin, Keary and Mattes will do their best to ensure that Belgium GAA's player interests are represented at the top level, and will work hard to improve GAA on the continent as a whole.

Comhgháirdeas a chairde, agus Nollaig Shona Dhíobh go léir. Happy Xmas everyone, and see you in 2010.

The Belgium GAA Committee

Belgium GAA End of Year Dinner & Awards

On Saturday 21 November, the club hosted our annual End of Year Dinner and Awards Ceremony in the fantastic surroundings of Devalera's Irish Bar.

"Dev's" is the club sponsor, and as usual the brilliant and hard-working staff went out of their way to make it a great night for everyone concerned. Many thanks to you all.

In the time-honoured GAA tradition, speeches were held after dinner, commemorating what has been a monumental year for Belgium GAA.

The hurling and ladies football teams were celebrated for their success in winning their pan-European championships, while Conan Mac Oscair was hailed for his remarkable achievement in winning the McNamee Award for Best GAA Website.

Finally, the following awards were presented to club members who made outstanding contributions on and off the field:

• Camogie Player of the Year: Sylvia McCarthy
• Hurling Player of the Year (And European Poc Fada champion) : Conor Aylward
• Mens Footballer of the Year: Stephen Kearney
• Womens Footballer of the Year: Laura Whiskerd
• Special Club Award for Oustanding Achievement: Martin Crowley
• Club Person of the Year: Phil Cushen

The club now turns its attentions to 2010, where we hope to have still more success on and off the field of battle.

Well done everyone on a magnificent 2009.

(for another report on the big night, see Dave Barrett's blog)

'Dilly-Dally' Davey's soccer shocker

Corcaigh, 10th November 2009

The authorities in Cork, more commonly referred to as 'shades' or the '5-0' are growing increasingly concerned over the reputation of one of their most respected local GAA players, a Mr. Dave Barrett from Kinsale.

"Dilly-Dally Davey," as he is fondly known by local GAA aficionados, caused bloody riots and mass suicide in rebel country earlier this year when images of him playing soccer - "foreign games" - were circulated in local media.

Barrett emerged after weeks in hiding to claim that he had been framed. The pugnacious Corkman, in an exclusive interview from his pimped-up Toyota Yaris, claimed an unknown copycat sportsman had imitated him in an attempt to besmirch his standing in GAA circles. A visibly shaken Barrett, unshaven, shaggy-haired and surrounded by empty pizza boxes, broke down live on air, but later vowed to fight back.

Latest evidence suggests that the man that the police originally thought to be a 'one-off' impostor has struck again, this time overseas in the Benelux country of Belgium, most likely in its capital, Brussels.

Concerns initially arose last year when a young man, whose resemblance to Mr. Barrett was striking, was spotted playing what can only be described as 'foreign sports' in an unknown location. Sadly these concerns have now been heightened as recent photographs sent in through interpol have revealed that the impostor has struck again, his desire to seriously dent the Corkman's impeccable GAA credentials clearly even more passionate, as he has even matched Mr. Barrett's most recent hairstyle down to a 'tee'.

At this point in time the police are keeping Mr. Barrett in a secured location and have requested him to cut his hair in the hope that this will throw the culprit off his scent.

When asked for his thoughts on the matter, David replied:

'Well, like I don't know like, he's a right gowl. I was too busy meetin yer wan anyway and would never play foreign sports like. Corcaigh abu'.

Above is the latest photo of the impostor that the authorities have:

ENDS