I would like to welcome you all here today to our annual general meeting for 2019. It has been both a pleasure and an honour to serve as Secretary of such a great club for another year with a wonderful group of hard working officers dedicated to the cause at senior and juvenile level.
I will now attempt to give a brief rundown on the year along with the many challenges we have faced throughout 2019.
Juveniles
Again another fantastic year for the juveniles of Listry GAA club. I would like to thank the juvenile board , Chairman Denis Murphy , Secretary Fergus Clifford and Treasurer Tim Fitzgerald for the wonderful work, leadership and dedication they have shown throughout the year to our young people and the professional manner in which they run our juvenile club.
A special thanks also to our coaching officer Colman O Shea who has done a great job in his role for the club. I would also like to thank Keel GAA club and their officers for all their help and cooperation in our amalgamation from U14 to U21. I sincerely hope that this amalgamation will continue for 2020. I would also like to thank all the juvenile coaches and mentors who dedicate their time and expertise to our youth and prepare teams to such a very high standard.
Fergus in his report at the upcoming juvenile AGM will give a detailed account of all fixtures etc for the year 2019. There is a huge workload involved in the role of juvenile secretary and I would like to especially congratulate Fergus on a job well done.
I would like to congratulate all our young players who represented the club with East Kerry , School teams and development squads. A special word of congratulations to all the boys and girls who represented our club so well in the skills competitions. Also to Aaron O Shea who was with the U16 Development squad and Kerry South U16’s and to Naoise O Donoghue who played in the primary school game this year.Also to Saidbh Curran who presented the match day ball at the Allianz League Final in Croke Park. Special mention also to Mairead Lehane who captained the Kerry Minor Ladies this year and this was a huge honour for her family and our club.
Our 2 summer camps as always were very well attended and I would like to thank all who helped out in any way and also a huge thanks to The Dungeon Bookshop for their very kind sponsorship and to Murt for securing same. As in previous years I would like to thank all the great sponsors we have who support our juvenile club and again Fergus will detail these in his report at the juvenile convention. A special word of thanks to Paul O Donoghue who kindly sponsored a new set of jerseys for our U16’s this year — It was very much appreciated by all in the club.
Also a huge thanks to all who participated in the St Patricks Day parade in Milltown this year.
Minors
Our minors who were amalgamated with Keel worked very hard this year and were rewarded with a fantastic victory in the Co League final . Again Colman O Shea and Billy O Brien worked very hard with this group and as a club we must ensure that this age group get the attention and support they deserve in the years ahead. Our minors also competed in Div 1 of the central region minor league and the Mid Kerry Championship.
Seniors
Our senior team worked very hard throughout the year commencing in early January 2019 and gave us some very memorable displays. We began with East Kerry League on 3rd February and finished on 15th December in Gneeveguilla where we lost the Fr Galvin final with a very understrength team on the day . This is an extremely long year of commitment for players and management and hopefully something will be done in the next few years to try and solve the problem of little or no football in July and August. We had a disappointing Junior Premier Championship but still managed to hold our status for 2020 despite our club being ravaged with not just injuries but very serious and long term injuries. A huge thanks to all for putting the shoulder to the wheel when it was really needed .
We also lost the Div 1 East Kerry League final for 2018 which was played in 2019.
Of course the highlight for our Senior team was gaining promotion to Division 2 for 2020 and we are looking forward to giving it a go against some of the top sides in the county.
Our management team this year again was made up of local talent and I think I speak for all that we as a club are extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication that the lads put in for the year. It was great to see local pride again at management level. The 2 Mike’s as they have become known — Mike Tangney and Mike Dwyer along with John Wren , Jonathan Chuckles O Connor , Trish , Dr Tony O Dowd and Danny Healy have all come together to make this group into a winning bunch of players and I personally would like to express my sincere thanks to them all.
At this stage I feel I must mention and thank on my own behalf and on behalf of our club the 2 Mikes who decided to take a break this year from the Senior Management. We as a club are really indebted to the 2 lads for the brilliant job which they have done for the last 2 years — The hours of training and phone calls etc which most of us don’t even realise happen. I know that the lads are looking forward to the well earned break and we presume the golf handicaps will be adjusted accordingly this year.
I hope that at some stage in the future the 2 lads may come back and get involved again at senior level and I know they will never be far away if we need a hand at the pitch — Remember I have your numbers lads !!
Also I must mention John Wren who is there every night to open up , turn on the lights and showers and lock up after training , making sure 1st Aid Kits and Ice packs are ready and always making sure jersies are washed and clean. This is a hugely important part of the senior set up and we as officers as do the players really appreciate this. John was ably assisted by his new signing in 2018 the great Chuckles .
Our junior team competed in the Co Junior League and Barrett Cup and I would like to thank Murt Broderick for coordinating this team for the year. Murt enlisted the help of Charlie Coakley , John Wrenn and Michael O Sullivan who all worked very hard to ensure we fielded teams in all games.
I would also like to congratulate all our players who played with East Kerry at Senior , U21 and minor level in the Co Championship for 2019. It was great to see a clean sweep for East Kerry in 2019.
A special mention to our own Ronan Buckley who captained Kerry in the Mc Grath Cup played recently. This is a huge honour for Ronan , his family and our club.
Referees
Again as in previous years our club referees represented us excellently throughout the year and I would like to thank all the juvenile referees especially Fergus Clifford who as juvenile secretary organised a huge amount of games where the club had to provide referees. Hopefully we can get more people involved for 2020. The Co Board have identified a major shortage of referees in the county and I would encourage anybody who is interested to contact me as courses will be held early in the year for new people. We are extremely indebted also this year to John Courtney who returned as a referee at Senior level. This is hugely important as the club without a senior referee would lose home venue in some Co League games. I would encourage all to support John whenever he needs umpires etc to travel with him for games.
Sponsors
The club are very lucky to have such a loyal group of sponsors and I would like to thank all who help us financially each year. Our main sponsors are as follows : Denis Murphy Gallivan Murphy Hooper Dolan , Sean O Mahony Faha Court, Sports Direct , Kerry Petroleum ,The Courtney Family , Peter and Siobhan Keane, Mike O Sullivan Beaufort Bridge, Kevin Murphy , Ger Brosnan, The Dungeon Bookshop ,Donagh O Regan , John Fleming J&M Carry Out, Sportsmans Bar Killarney and Killarney Mechanical Services. Also there are many more who support us financially through our many fundraising events and a huge thank you to all. We ask that you support our sponsors whenever you can.
A special mention I feel must go to Jerry O Connor from Cloyne in Cork ( formely of Keelaclogherane ). Jerry has been more than generous over the last few years and those of you who attend club meetings will know the huge financial contribution Jerry makes to our club while supporting each club fundraiser.
Again a huge thanks to Derry Ahern for continuing our sponsorship deal with Sports Direct and as we enter the final year of our 3 year initial deal we hope that going forward we may be able to extend our relationship with Sports Direct.
Fundraising
During the year we held many fundraising events – Our annual Shane Courtney Golf Classic in September coordinated by John Wrenn and his team , our Table Quiz in Faha Court coordinated by Conor O Sullivan and the Senior Squad , The Night at the Dogs coordinated by Denis Murphy and his committee . All these events were very successful and a huge thanks to all who helped in any way to organise these events.
Again as in previous years I would like to thank Listry Community Council for their help and cooperation in running our very successful weekly lotto and as you can see from our treasurers report what a valuable financial contribution it makes to our club. I would like to thank all the sellers and all those who help out every Sunday night. A special word of thanks to our lotto chairman Ted Scannell for the hours of work he puts in to ensure the success of the lotto. I would like to congratulate all the prizewinners in the lotto over the past year.
At our awards night in Faha Court on January 19th where our Fr Galvin medals were presented along with our Junior League medals we also had our presentations to our Club Person of the year Mr Denis Murphy and our Hall Of Fame award to Mr Mike Kennedy– both very worthy recipients. Our Senior player of the year was Anthony Kennedy and Junior Player of the year was Sean O Sullivan.
Club Meetings
The club held 12 monthly meetings during the year and all were well attended and again I would encourage more to come along to our meetings in 2020 to help out in the running of our club.
Development and Pitch Maintenance
In 2019 our pitch cutting was looked after by Mike Mannix and I must say the pitch is a credit to him and his work. Also thanks to Pat our worker with SKDP who always keeps the pitch lined and dressing rooms clean and tidy.
Thanks to Noel O Sullivan and his team for all the great work in ensuring we have this wonderful facility for our members.
In conclusion
I would like to thank all the officers who helped me during the distribution of All Ireland Tickets this year ( For 2 games !! ). I suppose it is a headache we would like to have every year !!
I would like to congratulate Peter Keane and the Kerry seniors on their massive achievement in reaching the All Ireland Final along with the Allianz League Final and with a small bit of luck could have stopped the Dubs. We look forward to 2020 and wish Peter and his team all the best for the year ahead. Also we would like to thank Peter for his very generous sponsorship whenever the juveniles are organising any fun evenings at the pitch.
The Gym equipment has been upgraded and gym painted and this was organised by the senior squad and the Table Quiz was organised by them as part of the deal to fund same so a huge thanks to Conor and all the lads.
Sports Direct in conjunction with Balls.ie had a very enjoyable evening filming at our pitch this year and huge thanks to Jerome our Chairman for organising this day.
I would like to congratulate Jimmy and Lorna O Leary and Donagh and Lisa O Regan who got married this year. 2 stalwarts of our club .
I would also like to thank Mr Brendan Griffin TD for his help in securing Sports Capital Funding late last year which hopefully we can put to good use in the year ahead.
Our website has reached its 10 year anniversary since start up and what a success it has been. Many people have helped down the years like Pat Fleming , Ann O Brien and many others with their contributions. Of course one man namely Mr Jules Weakley has been the main point of contact as the man who set it all up first day and is responsible for updating on a regular basis. Thank you Jules for all your help and cooperation.
Our club lotto is online since Sept / October and I would like to thank Cathal O Shea and Pat Fleming for all their work in bringing this to completion.
A fantastic addition to the parish has come on stream late last year with the opening of the new Astro Turf facility at Faha NS. We wish them all the best and look forward to using same in the coming year.
We as a club have appointed a new management team for 2020. Marc O Se former Kerry great from An Ghaeltacht as team manager with selectors Colman O Shea and Mike Broderick. We wish the lads all the best and hope they will get all the help and support they deserve for the year ahead.
For the 1st time in a number of years we in Listry will have an officer on the East Kerry Board. The club have nominated Noel Kennedy for the position of Secretary and we wish Noel all the best for the coming year.
The Milltown / Listry ladies also had a very successful year and I would like to congratulate all the Listry ladies involved in this.
I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to all Listry Gaels who suffered bereavements during the year on my own behalf and on behalf of all in Listry GAA.
In conclusion I would like to thank all my fellow officers for all their help and support during the year. Chairman Jerome , Treasurer John Joe , Registrar Ciara , PRO Anne and Vice Chair Denis and all our other officers who do their job in such a professional manner.
If I have forgotten to mention anybody who helped in any way during the year I apologise for same. We have a great club and community here in Listry and are the envy of many other parishes in the county.
A thought for the year ahead for us all :
If you really want to do something , you will find a way. If you don’t you will find an excuse.
I wish good luck health and happiness to all our players , members and sponsors for 2020.
Yours in sport
Anthony Clifford
Sec Listry GAA