Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club S

CLANNS UPDATE

Proud sponsors of Clanna Gael Fontenoy Club’s Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting took place via Zoom on Tuesday 24th November , with strong participation from across the club.

Chairman’s report In his Chairman’s report Bernard Barron focused on the challenges posed by Covid-19 restrictions and how well the club has been dealing with these. Match activity in the earlier part of the year brought considerable joy to many and no small amount of success for many of our teams, he noted. When restrictions needed to be applied, the club did so fully and effectively and, thankfully, no cases of Covid have come to the club’s attention. Bernard Barron, Chairman

“Our Coaches, Officers, Executive Committee and Staff have made Bernard has now stepped down from enormous efforts to keep activities going as much as possible through the the position of Chairman. He has pandemic. In this regard I wish to pay particular tribute to all the coaches filled that role for the past four years at every level. At the same time, the number of players in the club has during which time he has served the never been higher in male and female football and in /camogie, club very well. He will continue as a right from the Academy through Juvenile to Adults.” member of the Executive Committee.

He made an appeal to members on two levels: for more people to volunteer their time and support in managing current levels of activity as well as driving further growth; also for greater support for the weekly Club

Lotto (playable online) and for the GAA National Draw tickets which are currently on sale – both key sources of finance for the club. And on the issue of finance he expressed strong appreciation of the support provided to the club by our various sponsors and advertisers, especially Port Company as our main sponsor.

Referring to the end of his four-year term as Chairman, he highlighted the significant progress made in that time on various fronts including:

• Expanding the club’s relationship with and footprint in our catchment communities of Irishtown, , and surrounding areas • Building the quantity and quality of our coaching resources • Growing the number and skills levels of our players • Developing quality facilities • Improving the appearance of the club

• Stabilising the club’s financial position

“This would not have been achieved were it not for the enormous commitment , time and energy given by all those off and on the pitch. My thanks to all of you who have made this happen – it has been a really successful collaborative effort...... I am very conscious that the club has had significant facilities and a great local reputation bestowed upon us through the great work of our predecessors. None of these can be taken for granted; and, as @Clannagaelfont

Secretary’s report Brian Delany’s report drew attention to, among other matters, the extensive capital investment programme which has recently delivered major improvements on a number of fronts, including:

 A new gym with state-of-the-art facilities  A new playing surface for the astro pitch with renewed fencing  LED lighting on the playing pitches

 Solar panels on the clubhouse roof

Notwithstanding Covid, these enhancements are already paying dividends Brian Delany, Secretary for members and will serve the club well into the future, he stated. Brian has now been elected He also pointed to various ways in which the club has reached out to the Chairman. This follows a number of wider community during the pandemic. This included, for example, years in the role of Secretary during assistance to the vulnerable with shopping and other tasks which was which time he has served the club provided by a team of club volunteers in an initiative identified by Peter very well. McCabe. And there has been extensive outreach from the club to our schools for which credit is due in particular to Una McCullagh and Sinead Spain working closely with our Games Development Officer, Shaunna Curtis.

Treasurer’s report Suzanne Murray confirmed that, as with GAA clubs, organisations and businesses throughout the country, the club’s finances have been significantly impacted by the pandemic due to restrictions on activities. Revenue from functions and other activities in the hall was well done as was bar income. As against this, every effort has been made to reduce costs wherever possible.

Consequently, while negative, the overall financial outcome for the year is manageable and the hope is for a return to more normal trading activities before too much longer. At the same time, the club continues to maximise all available grant aid and other financial supports. Suzanne Murray, Treasurer

Officers and Executive Committee Suzanne has now stepped down from The following Officers and Executive Committee members were the position of Treasurer. She has elected/appointed: filled that role for the past four years during which time she has served the • Chairman Brian Delany club very well. • Vice Chairman Tony Murphy • Secretary Michael Costello

• Treasurer Eamonn Sherry • Registrar Eoghan Heneghan

• PRO Felix O’Regan

• Children’s Officer Christina Deevy • Coaching Games Officer Declan Darcy

• Players’ Representative tbc • Other Exec. Members: Bernard Barron Simon Beirne Garret Bennis Aidan Marsh Una McCullagh John Mitchell Frank White

------Visit www.clannagaelfontenoy.ie for lots more information on the Club’s activities ------@Clannagaelfont

Club supporting people in need The club is working with St Vincent De Paul this Christmas to provide Club News support for people in need in our catchment area.

Club members, supporters, friends and indeed people not directly involved with the club are being invited to contribute non-perishable Clanns ladies make their mark th food items (see list); and to bring these to the club on Saturday 5 A number of the club’s senior ladies December, 9am to 1pm. team featured recently on a bigger stage! Breakfast Cereals Tinned Peas Rice / Pasta / Noodles Tinned Beans Susan Vaughan lined out in midfield for Sauces for Pasta / Rice Tinned Tuna/Salmon the Clare team in their All-Ireland Muesli Bars Tinned Soup Camogie Quarter Final fixture with Jams Biscuits Cork. Chocolate Soft Drinks Mince Pies Tea While Sinead Taylor donned the No. 10 jersey for Wexford Youths Football Crisps Coffee Club in the Women’s National League. Popcorn Sugar

Sweets Christmas crackers Congratulations to them both.

New toy donations are also very welcome.

First identified by the club’s U-13 girls’ team, the initiative is gathering support from all across the club, from coaches, players and parents alike.

James Dolly, U-13 coach, states:

“Our U-13 girls wanted to do something for people in need in our community, so we linked up with the local chapter of St Vincent De Paul to make this happen. We’re delighted that other teams and coaches from across the club are getting behind this and are spreading the word further afield. We’re very hopeful that this will be reflected in the contributions made on Saturday 5th December - both from people inside and outside the club”.

Finian Loftus, St Vincent De Paul, states:

“We sincerely appreciate the hard work of all involved in Clanna Gael

Fontenoy in planning and organising this fundraiser as well as the generosity of all those contributing. This is a very difficult time for so many families in our community and we remind everybody not to hesitate to contact us if they are experiencing difficulties; they can be assured of our assistance and complete confidentiality.”

Clanns and Dublin footballers, Evan Caulfield and Kate McKenna, get behind the @Clannagaelfont Initiative