PROGRAMME PLUS – VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1, JANUARY 29 th , 2016 Welcome, collectors, to the first issue of the Programme Plus information bulletin, a resource that I hope will heighten awareness of, and interest in, our hobby, as well as helping everyone to fill as many gaps as possible in their collections, and in establishing new contacts. The aim of this undertaking is quite simple: I want it to be used as a monthly forum for collectors to share information and ideas that should benefit everyone. In order to do that I will need the help of as many readers as possible, so please feel free to contact me with contributions. Ideally this should be a ‘one-stop shop’ for collectors, covering as many aspects of our hobby as possible. I’ve settled on the name ‘Programme Plus’ to convey the idea that collecting doesn’t begin and end with programmes only for most of us; it’s programmes primarily, plus yearbooks, annuals, magazines, histories, etc. As you will see, the appearance of the bulletin is fairly basic; apologies to anyone who had visions of something more elaborate when I first mooted the idea and mentioned the word ‘newsletter’. I guess that would have conveyed an idea of printed material laid out in pages with accompanying images. Unfortunately, I simply don’t have the time to commit to such an undertaking, so I trust this will suffice. Hopefully it will be looked upon as a first step in improving communications between collectors, and who knows where it might lead down the road? That’s the explanation and background out of the way, so now it’s time to explore various aspects of our hobby in an attempt to spread the word. I want to ensure that nothing is off limits, because for every long-established collector out there who knows the ropes so to speak, there may be somebody else relatively new to this hobby who will benefit from what others may feel is stating the obvious. THE MONTH IN PROGRAMMES: Most of us attend games every weekend, and there’s no better way to build up a collection. Therefore, I hope that one of the regular features in this bulletin will be ‘The Month In Programmes’, a section where as many collectors as possible contact me to give a lowdown on the recent publications they have seen. I will start with a personal look at January and, let’s face it, the more accurate terminology should probably be ‘the month in teamsheets’ given that four-page, single-sheet hand-outs are the norm for the provincial tournaments. The new year started out on an unacceptable low note here in Wexford as our County Board didn’t even produce a teamsheet for the games played on January 2 and 3: the Bord na Móna Walsh Cup opener against I.T. Carlow in Bunclody, and the Bord na Móna O’Byrne Cup clash with All-Ireland champions Dublin. They received a very bad press for this oversight, in the local media as well as in the ‘Evening Herald’, and it simply wasn’t good enough. By my calculations, it was the first time since 1985 that a programme or teamsheet hadn’t been produced for an inter-county game played in Wexford. The local media were contacted in advance by the Co. P.R.O. to state that programmes wouldn’t be available. In the case of the hurling, it was stated that Wexford wouldn’t know what players they had at their disposal until the day of the game, which I personally found hard to believe; as for the football, Dublin were late in sending in a team but then supplied their alphabetical list. This prompted the P.R.O. to send the template for a programme to the media including both teams, but a comedy of errors and incompetence ensued as apparently nobody in the County Board had the facility to get it photocopied on the day before the game! The saga didn’t end there as, in fairness to Dublin, they followed the numbers they had supplied for the ‘programme that never was’, but for some reason Wexford ignored it, fielding 13 players in different numbers and causing total confusion among the visiting media who had seen the template. Most bizarrely of all, when Ben Brosnan scored Wexford’s first goal, the County Board’s official Twitter feed credited Donal Shanley with it because Brosnan was wearing Shanley’s number 15 shirt. It must have been news to Shanley that he had rattled the net against the Dubs, given that he was on holidays at the time! I don’t know about you dear reader, but as a committed collector I get very annoyed when I attend a game and there’s no programme, but thankfully it doesn’t occur too often. To be fair to the Leinster Council, they make a big effort to promote the Walsh Cup and O’Byrne Cup, with the drive led by former national newspaper journalist Cian Murphy in his role as Marketing and Public Relations Manager. Distinctive artwork was designed and sent out to every county for use on the front cover of programmes, along with generic back page welcomes from John Horan (Leinster Chairman) and Gerry O’Hagan of sponsors Bord na Móna. It was interesting to see how different counties used this material in different ways. My next game after the Dublin debacle was three days later when Wexford hosted D.C.U. in the O’Byrne Cup. Having learned their lesson, the County Board supplied a free hand-out at the stiles, but it was of poor quality as the Leinster Council’s supplied colour artwork had been photocopied. Next up on January 10 for me was a double-header in Navan as Meath hosted Wexford and Laois respectively in the Walsh and O’Byrne Cups. This was the best four-pager I saw this month as it was in full colour on thicker, card paper; my only gripe was the €2 cover charge which was €1 too much in my view. Seven days later I was in Netwatch Cullen Park for Wexford v. Carlow in the Walsh Cup. The free four-pager at the stiles was in black and white this time but the quality was a lot better than Wexford’s, as it had clearly been assigned to a printer rather than being photocopied. Finally, last Sunday (January 24) brought me to O’Kennedy Park, New Ross, for Wexford’s Walsh Cup win over Offaly and another photocopied black and white effort. Strangely though, there was a charge of €1 this time which goes to prove that you never know what to expect with programmes in Wexford these days: from nothing at all to a four-page freebie, followed by one costing €1. After a month of teamsheets, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on an actual programme with reading material tomorrow when Croke Park is my destination for the Walsh Cup final and the Dublin v. Kerry Allianz League opener. That publication will start off my ‘month in programmes’ review in the next edition. I would love to hear from other collectors with similar accounts, as it will help all of us who avidly collect everything to get a clear picture of what exactly is being produced around the country. LABOURS OF LOVE: Every month I plan to devote a section to club histories, and I make no apologies for labelling it ‘labours of love’. That, in my view, sums up what these compilations are all about, and I know from personal experience after writing the history of my own club, Sarsfields (published in 2010), as well as a history of the St. Ibar’s/Shelmalier camogie club (published in 2012). Many readers have undertaken similar tasks with their own clubs and can readily identify with the endless hours spent researching, interviewing, chasing photographs and checking facts. And in many cases, because of the specific subject matter, the end result will see a mere 200 or 300 copies being sold. Club histories are not compiled in order to make a profit, but they engender immense pride within communities; yes indeed, labours of love, and I have the height of admiration for anybody who undertakes such a venture. This month I will set the ball rolling by putting the spotlight on three excellent club histories I recently purchased, from three different provinces. First up is ‘The Story Of The G.A.A. in Killeavy County Armagh’ by Oliver McDonald. This impressive hardback publication with dust cover runs to a whopping 545 pages and retails for £30 sterling. Taking the conversion to euros into account, plus a €10 postal charge from Dundalk and packaging, I secured my copy for €56 from Oliver whose address is 47 Forkhill Road, Cloughoge, Newry, Co. Down, BT35 8LT. Please e-mail Oliver first to check that copies are still available: [email protected] My next acquisition was the equally impressive ‘Our Proud Heritage - A History of Kilmallock GAA 1884-2015’ which was compiled by an eight-man editorial committee. Another hardback with a dust cover, it runs to 559 pages and I obtained my copy by sending a cheque for €37 (€25 cover charge plus €12 postage and packaging) to John O’Donnell, Griscarra, Treanlewis, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. Please contact John first at [email protected] to check availability. Finally this month, I purchased ‘Black & Amber - A History Of The GAA In The Parish Of Dunshaughlin, 1886-2014’ by Jim Gilligan and Patsy McLoughlin.