ÉIRE ÓG GREYSTONES

Hopefully it is not too late to once again wish you all a happy and prosperous 2017 (Bliain Nua faoi shéan is faoi mhaise daoibh go léir) on behalf of Éire Óg.

Christmas is now well past but it is still difficult to exit the unreality that attends the season and to face into the reality of the challenges, not least of which are financial, that the club is destined to encounter in the new year. There is not a year in the history of the club in which finance has not been a problem for Éire Óg Greystones and keeping its head above water has been for much of the time a case of running faster and faster to stand still.

In 2017 the Lotto, which has been the mainstay of the day-to-day running of the club, is entering somewhat uncharted waters with a change to on-line sales only. Many factors have contributed to the necessity for this change.

The year-to-year decline in the sales of the Lotto tickets had reached the point in 2016 where the question arbh fiú an tairbhe and trioblóid (was the return worth the time and financial input required) had to be asked. Further, the co-ordination of the Lotto is a hugely demanding task and imposed significant restrictions on the freedom of the ever-reliable organisers, Veronica and Des O’Reilly. Go raibh mile maith agaibh beirt. A situation which certainly could not continue for too long more.

In his annual report, Rúnaí Daniel English acknowledged the club’s indebtedness to Veronica and Des, who were present at the AGB. A recognition unanimously endorsed by the meeting and which was greeted by a prolonged bout of applause. Also, thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Daniel, on-line sales have shown a continuous week-toweek increase in income in 2016 which has raised hopes that a purely electronic system would be viable. The new arrangement is scheduled to commence operation in the very near future.

Thankfully, a financial floating collar that would help us ride-out our short-term difficulties is waiting to be grasped. It comes in the form of a country-wide GAA draw, which has really attractive prizes. These prizes are sponsored centrally so no costs accrue to the club, which implies that all the monies for the tickets sold on behalf of a club go directly into its coffers. Tickets, which are available from Mark Barry or Committee members, are at the attractive price of €10 each. A large sale of these ticéidí would be a wonderful start to the year and would calm the nerves of Cisteoir Daniel ‘Doc’ O’Connor.

Greystones has been chosen by the county Board as the venue for Cill Mantáin’s home game v Laois in the O’Byrne Cup (peil) on Wednesday 11th and for the Keogh Cup (iomáint) game v IT Tallaght on the 22nd. Éire Óg is well represented in both squads

so your support would be appreciated.