East Belfast GAA

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East Belfast
Oirthear Bhéal Feirste
EastBelfastGAACrest.jpg
Founded:2020
County:Down
Colours:Black and Yellow
Playing kits
Standard colours

East Belfast GAA (Irish: CLG Oirthear Bhéal Feirste) is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in East Belfast in County Down, Northern Ireland. The team currently plays in the Down Senior County League.[1][2] The team is noted for its cross community inclusion which differs from other GAA teams in Northern Ireland where the majority of followers are usually derived from the Nationalist community. East Belfast GAA have been a cross-community team since its inception with the inclusion of both Unionists and Nationalists personnel, and actively promotes friendship and cooperation between both sides of the political divide.[3] It is the first GAA club to be based in East Belfast since St Colmcille's was formed in the 1950s but folded at the beginnings of the Troubles.[4] The first club president is Irish-language promoter Linda Ervine.

History[]

The provisional logo of the East Belfast GAC before the current crest

The club was formed in May 2020 by cross-community worker and former Carryduff GAA player Richard Maguire, and former London GAA player David McGreevy who had moved back to Northern Ireland in late 2018. After decades long absence of a GAA club in the historically Loyalist East Belfast, McGreevy initially hoped to set up a boys U12 team, and put out a message on Twitter asking for help setting up a GAA club.[5]

Due to an overwhelming response the Club set-up senior hurling, camogie, men's and ladies football teams within a day of the tweet being posted.[citation needed]

The club crest was revealed on 16 July 2020. It features primarily an outline of the Harland and Wolff cranes which is an iconic symbol of the area, a shamrock, a thistle & a red hand, along with the club's motto "Together" written in the three languages of Northern Ireland; English, Irish ("Le Chéile") and Ulster-Scots ("Thegither").[6] The crest was designed by creative director Rory Millar,[7] who had earlier designed the Canada GAA crest. The club's first match took place the following day with the men's senior football team taking on St Michael Magheralin. The ladies senior football team played its first game on 18 July against Saval. The senior Camogie team played its first game on 22 July against Kilchief and the men's senior hurling team played its first game on 6 August against Cumann Pheadair Naofa.[citation needed]

On 5 August 2020, there was a hoax bomb alert at the team's training ground of Henry Jones Playing Fields which was believed to have been aimed at East Belfast GAA.[8] The incident was condemned by all local politicians on both sides of the divide including the unionist DUP's Gavin Robinson MP & nationalist SDLP's Lisnasharragh Councillor Séamas de Faoite.[9]

On 12 September due to the pandemic, all club activity was stopped for a week as advised by the GAA and the NHS as one of the team members tested positive for COVID-19.[10] On the 19 September, the senior camogie team had its first win, beating St Enda's GAC reserve camogie team 7-11 to 2-2. This is the club's first win since forming the GAC.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ "East Belfast camogs look to the future after historic debut". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  2. ^ Lynch, Connor (2020-07-16). "East Belfast GAA unveil new club crest ahead of first matches". BelfastLive. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  3. ^ "New East Belfast GAA club unveils tri-lingual crest to symbolise communities coming together". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  4. ^ Magee, Kevin (2015-03-09). "The team that disappeared". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  5. ^ @EastBelfastGAA (31 May 2020). "A new GAA club for East Belfast, if you're interested in playing, coaching or admin (More than likely all 3!) All ages, genders and backgrounds welcome. Please email EastBelfastGAA@gmail.com to register" (Tweet). Retrieved 2020-09-17 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Mahoney, Donny. "East Belfast GAA Launch New Tri-Lingual Crest Ahead Of Historic Day". Balls.ie. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  7. ^ "East Belfast GAA". Roaaaary. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  8. ^ "East Belfast GAA security alert sectarian hate crime, say police". The Irish News. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  9. ^ "East Belfast security alert met with widespread condemnation". ITV News. 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  10. ^ "CLUB STATEMENT: All club activity is suspended until further notice. #gaa #lgfa #camogie". Twitter. Archived from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  11. ^ "SUPERSTARS IN THE SUNSHINE Smiling face with sunglasses The East Belfast Camogie team have won their first ever game against St Endas GAC 7-11 to 2-2! Well done ladies, great to see the hard work is starting to pay off Clapping hands sign Clapping hands sign#camogie OfficialCamogie". Twitter - @EastBelfastGAA. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-09-20.

External links[]


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