First GAA club in east Belfast in almost 50 years has been ‘flooded with requests for membership’
IRISH language campaigner Linda Ervine has revealed a new GAA club in east Belfast has been inundated with membership requests.
Mrs Ervine has been named president of East Belfast GAC.
She said the new club has been flooded with offers of help and support since it was announced at the weekend.
Malone Rugby Club, which is based on the Cregagh Road, has offered its clubhouse and pitch facilities on an interim basis to the club, she said.
“About 100 members have been signed up and there are more emails and responses that we haven’t been able to deal with yet,” Mrs Ervine told the Belfast Telegraph.
“It’s a cross-community initiative and the founders come from a GAA and rugby background and are very passionate about both sports and cross-community engagement with both sports.”
The club hopes to field a team in the Down junior championship this year.
Co Down native David Mcgreevy is one of those involved, having played Gaelic football for London in the 2013 Connaught final. Mr Mcgreevy also plays football for his home club of Teconnaught, near Downpatrick, and rugby for Belfast-based Instonians.
The last GAA club of its kind to play at adult level in east Belfast, St Colmcille’s GAC, was disbanded in the 1970s.
Mrs Ervine, sister-in-law of the late PUP leader David Ervine, said the establishment of a new GAA club represents a return to normality and they had been flooded with offers of support.
She added: “[The GAA club] was lost with the Troubles, so for me it’s very much about normality returning to the area and people moving on 20 odd years after the Good Friday Agreein ment.” Daithi Macraibhaigh is one of the founding members of the club, and has been impressed by the response.
“At this moment we’re looking at organising men and women football teams, camogie and hurling teams, and underage sides as well,” he told BBC Sport.
“And because we are promoting this as a cross-community project, several primary schools including some from the integrated sector have been
touch.” Mr Macraibhaigh said the club’s name, East Belfast GAC, will remain unless the members decide to change it but said he thinks it would be appropriate to consider naming the club after someone from the east side of the city.
East Belfast GAC will come under the authority of the Down County board.
“It’s positive news that they want to field a cross-community team,” said the board secretary, Sean Og Mcateer.
“In the current climate where there are no activities on the playing fields, the fact that people want to launch Gaelic games again in east Belfast is very welcome. We will do all we can to advise them.”