All Ireland Island Gaelic Competition

Arranmore took part in the All Ireland Island Gaelic Competition on the weekend of 1st and 2nd of October for the first time and acquitted themselves well. The Competition has been running for 8 years and for various reasons Arranmores  attempts to participate has been undone until this year. A small group of 15 travelled to Clare Island on the weekend to compete and participate and they were well received. Under the guidance of Peter Dillon and Neil Gallagher both experienced Gaelic players the team got together when they could and enthusiastically gave it their all in  preparation for the big weekend. Arran played in the first game of the competition and gave Bere Island the previous years winners a big fright by going up 4 points to nil after 4 minutes. Although Bere gathered themselves and came back to win 6 to 4 the Arran boys certainly made their mark.
After the ice had been broken there was no shortage of enthusiasm from both players and supporters ( both of us) for more of the same.

The weekend of course was not only about football! The sense of belonging to a community which perhaps has its own set of difficulties and rewards really came to the fore as stories and experiences were shared  among like minded individuals. The hospitality of the host Island Clare cannot be emphasised enough. From the way that the Ferry crew handled a very difficult crossing under bad weather conditions and the warm welcome we received when we landed, the provision of excellent meals and accommodation the smiles and greetings received from every one we met really made our weekend. The weekend was a starting point for Arranmore and the consensus is that we will be back with perhaps a little more knowledge but certainly with an anticipation of a great weekend to be had player or not. We look forward to the competition to be held on Inishman on the weekend following Easter 2006 and we congratulate Clare on winning the 2005 trophy.

Michael Early

RTE Six One news report on the tournament.