CUMANN LUTHCHLEAS GAEL COISTE CHONTAE DHOÍRE STRATEGY 2007 - 2012 SUPPORTED BY COMHAIRLE ULADH CLG ULSTER COUNCIL GAA Contents Réamhrá 2 Executive Summary 4 Réamhrá Derry: The County Context 7 Is cúis mhór áthais domh cupla focal a scríobh sa plean straitéiseach seo. Derry: The GAA Context 11 I mo thuairimse, is fearr súil romhat ná dhá shúil i do dhiaidh. As Derry GAA moves confidently and strongly ahead, I am privileged and proud to introduce “Fís Feasa” the Analysis 16 strategic plan for the county for the next five years. “Fís Feasa” lays out the vision and direction that we the gaels of Derry must follow. This strategy proposes ¢ Governance 19 necessary change and progressively looks at the actions the County must take to stay successful over the ¢ Coaching and Games Development 25 coming years. ¢ Funding and Finance 28 Proud of our history, traditions and achievements, we are a modern thriving organisation. Derry established ¢ Infrastructure 30 and built the first GAA centre of excellence at Owenbeg which became the template that the other counties in ¢ Non-County Players 32 Ireland now use. ¢ Education 34 Derry were the first County Board to address the decline of Gaelic Games in urban areas when we established ¢ Marketing, Public Relations and Communications 36 the first Urban Gaelic Games Development Project in Derry City, in partnership with the Derry City Council and ¢ Including Others 38 the Ulster Council, to assist the development of our urban clubs. ¢ County Players 40 With the imminent redevelopment of both Owenbeg and Celtic Park, Derry will continue to lead the way in ¢ Culture, Heritage and History 41 innovation. This document is our first step in that process. ¢ Events 42 The future of Derry is our youth and this document focuses on delivering an organisation that will benefit our ¢ Staff 43 children and make gaelic games in our county not only more accessible, but more welcoming for all. It is essential that we in Cumann Lúthchleas Gael review our activities and move confidently ahead in a planned Implementation and Monitoring of the Five Year Plan 45 and structured way. We thank the Ulster Council for their assistance in the preparation of our strategic plan. We have a big task ahead. Together we will achieve the vision. Physical Development Plans 46 Séamus Mac Luaidh Cathaoirleach, Coiste Chontae Dhoire Acknowledgments 47 2 3 Executive Summary ¢ Coaching and Games Development Including Others What This Is ¢ Education Rationale: ¢ Infrastructure Given the dramatic social and other changes Fís Feasa brings together the strategic thinking of the GAA at County level in Derry and maps out the way ahead that Derry is undergoing, it is vital that the GAA ¢ Marketing, Public Relations & Communications for the county over the next five years. It builds on a range and variety of planning work taken forward by others becomes more inclusive towards woman, ethnic in past years and equally includes a number of projects and initiatives that are already well-advanced within Derry. ¢ Events minorities, people with disabilities, and people of ¢ Non-County Players different traditions. Crucially however it binds all these together in the one document and adds in new analyses and thinking as to ¢ Staff the way ahead. Fís Feasa is firmly rooted within the Derry GAA family. It was developed by a planning team put Actions: in place by the County Board and is based on inputs from right across the county’s gaelic games spectrum. All The rationale behind each theme and the main ¢ structure the organization of the GAA in Derry Derry Clubs were surveyed as part of the planning process and many attended a planning conference held in actions proposed under each can be summarised so that integration and equality are at the heart Owenbeg in the late spring of 2006. as follows: of its business ¢ promote and deliver the full family of Governance and Structure gaelic games Derry: The Place Rationale: ¢ develop and implement the necessary policies Society and the GAA are constantly changing: as ¢ organize gaelic games “taster sessions” Almost 0.25m people live in Derry, spread across a County of great geographical variety and rich heritage. It is such, the County board has to ensure that the a growing County in population terms and one that is increasingly urban. Like the rest of Ireland it is a place of governance structures are effective, worthwhile constant and dramatic place of change socially, culturally and economically. Many of Derry’s people experience Coaching and Games Development and democratic. high levels of deprivation: that deprivation tends to be concentrated in the towns and in the high Sperrins Rationale: area. In Derry city, the County has an an asset Ireland’s fourth largest urban centre. Actions: To have a vigorous GAA in Derry means developing better players and coaches so that both ¢ develop new county by-laws participation in the games and achievement of Derry: The GAA County ¢ reshape the County Committee and increase teams and players in those games are taken to the Clubs’ involvement in it highest levels. Derry has established a vigorous GAA pedigree, in football, hurling, camogie and ladies football. Like much of ¢ restructure the Management Committee and clarify members’ portfolios Ulster it largely came to prominence in the decades since the Second World War: that era however also saw the Actions: decline of the Association in Derry city, previously the engine of the GAA in the County. ¢ re-shape the sub-committee structure in line ¢ produce a five year coaching and games with the other changes development plan for Derry Forty affiliated clubs make up the GAA in Derry: of these 32 are football only; two are hurling only; and six are ¢ rationalize the management of youth affairs in dual. Despite being home to four Derry people in every ten, Derry city accommodates six GAA Clubs only. Culture, Heritage and History the County Derry’s 40 Clubs elect a County Committee which, making use of 22 separate sub-committees, manages the Rationale: ¢ review the development squads system County’s GAA business. Irish Language, music, dance art and heritage make ¢ focus on the development of coaches & referees the GAA different from other sporting organisations. The physical infrastructure for gaelic games in the County is strong and in Celtic Park and the ¢ develop health and wellness initiatives The cultural aspect of the Association allows the Owenbeg Centre of Excellence Derry has infrastructure assets that few other counties can match. County to contribute to other important agendas as well-highlighting the family and non-sporting Education package to our membership. Rationale: Derry’s GAA Priority Themes In order to ensure that gaelic games are the first Actions: choice sports for all school children and third level The analyses and consultation that underpinned this Fís Feasa led to the identification of ten strategic themes. students in Derry, it’s essential that the County’s ¢ improve Irish language signage There were felt to cover the core areas of the County’s GAA business and to provide a framework for the links with education are strengthened and built on. development of the GAA in Derry. The ten themes were: ¢ introduce gaelic art into GAA facilities/premises ¢ re-energise Scor in Derry Actions: ¢ Governance and Structure ¢ develop a County GAA museum and update the ¢ reshape GAA structures as appropriate County’s GAA history publication ¢ Culture, Heritage and History ¢ make full use of Owenbeg ¢ support the use of the Irish language ¢ Including Others ¢ development links with the University of Ulster at Magee 4 5 Derry: The County Context ¢ roll out health and wellness programmes in ¢ organise an annual County Festival and annual The Place of people living in the County having increased Third Level settings Gala Banquet by about 38,000 (or nearly 20%) since 1981. ¢ introduce gaelic games components to A-Level ¢ Promote summer camps, charity matches, Derry is one of 32 counties in Ireland; one of nine Increasingly it’s an urban place, with more than programmes and over 40’s games in Ulster; and one of six in NI. In terms of public six people in every ten living in the larger urban sector administration, Derry as a county no longer centres. The main towns and their populations are: Infrastructure Non-County Players exists. But as an area and community it still holds a strong attachment for those who live there and/or Rationale: Rationale: were born there. It is this attachment to place that Urban Derry Derry has the best training and playing facilities It is important that all players regardless of their underpins what the GAA is about. in Ulster. Owenbeg needs to continue as the ability have the opportunity to participate in headquarters for gaelic games in the County competitive gaelic games. It is also vital that Clubs As a county, Derry is a place of variety. It ranges PLACE POPULATION % OF COUNTY providing player support and opportunities for have good access to their County players and from the lowland shores of Lough Neagh in the games development. Celtic Park should become that conflicts between football and hurling are south-east; through the Sperrin Mountains; to Derry City 95,000 40% the main venue to showcase all main minimised. Lough Foyle in the north. Its eastern edge is marked competitive fixtures. Coleraine 24,000 10% by the River Bann/County Antrim; its southern edge Actions: Limavady 12,000 5% by Tyrone; and its western edge by Donegal. Actions: ¢ set and work to fixtures schedules which Magherafelt 9,000 4% ¢ proceed with development plans for Owenbeg guarantee minimum numbers of matches for It brings together urban and rural; good agricultural Portstewart 8,000 3% and Celtic Park Clubs land and poor; and a series of contrasting ¢ roll out the Ulster Council’s Club development landscapes and settings.