County board hail success of La na gClub

Cavan county GAA board PRO Mark Gillick has praised the clubs of the county for their hard work in contributing to the 'huge success' of the special La na gClub, which was staged last Sunday. 'From a Cavan point of view the event was fantastic,' Gillick told The Anglo Celt. 'Clubs all over the county, and all over the world for that matter, organised blitzes, masses for deceased members and other community-based events and it was a huge success.' Gillick called on the GAA to consider extending the one-off event to make an annual occasion when clubs organise events to promote the ethos of the Association. 'It would be nice if something similar could be done every year,' said the official this week. 'I personally would like to think that it could be continued following the success of last Sunday. 'It brings out the whole community, including those who are not usually involved with their local GAA clubs, which of course is brilliant as well. 'Some clubs organised novelty games, blitzes, barbeques, table quizzes and so on and from what I have heard it ran off very well all over the county.' Gillick highlighted the fact that the day was organised and publicised by Croke Park well in advance as a key factor in it"s success. 'La na gClub was flagged a long way back and that gave clubs the chance to plan ahead, which added to the occasion,' said the Cavan Gaels clubman. 'The fact that there were no fixtures on the day was also a help, as clubs were free to concentrate on organising events and the sole focus was on the celebrations without any distractions in terms of playing and hosting matches.' Some clubs in Cavan, including Belturbet and Redhills among others, were forced to cancel or scale back certain events due to the adverse weather in the days leading up May 10 which saw many pitches become unplayable, although the weather on the day itself held up well. The Crosserlough club also postponed their event as a mark of respect to the late Tom Dowd, who passed away last week (see obituary, page 17). For some photos of the festivities from around the county, turn to page 33. More photos and reports will follow in next week"s Anglo Celt.