'The fact we raised €100,000 in one year from a 15c can or bottle shows our level of ambition'

FUNDRAISER

Just before the NFL game in March between Meath and Monaghan at Pairc Tailteann had ended a little army of people got ready to spring into action.

This particular collection of soldiers of fortune were armed with nothing more threatening than plastic bags and perhaps the odd litter picker – and when the game concluded the army went on the march. They knew exactly what their mission was.

Once the big attendance started to disperse they began to sweep through the terraces and stands mopping up litter that went into some of the bags. More importantly, in the context of what their ultimate objective was, the collectors put bottles and cans into other, designated bags.

Such manoeuvres are all part of a long-term strategy embarked on by people involved with Meath Camogie – and their supporters and battalion of helpers – to raise enough money so that they can buy a piece of ground and develop it into a playing and training arena. A place they can call their own.

It has been clear for some time such a facility is badly needed. For years Meath camogie teams have had to go searching for training and playing venues. Recently county star Maeve Clince pointed out how this season the Meath senior team has been at times reduced to training on the little patch of ground between pitches at Dunganny as they waited, sometimes in vain, to get on one of those pitches.

Generating the funding needed for a new facility is a formidable task indeed because it has been estimated, it will require somewhere between €400,000 to €500,000 at least, to transform this aspiration into reality.

However, because of their efforts on the bottle-and-can collection front, Meath Camogie are well on the way to reaching that target – and the momentum driving the project on appears to be ramping up rather than slacking off.

Recently the significant milestone of €100,000 collected for the project was reached. It’s quite an achievement made even more remarkable when it is considered all the income was generated from the 15 cents paid out for every bottle and can collected as part of the Government-driven Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

“The fact we raised €100,000 in one year from a 15c can or bottle shows our level of ambition,” says the vice-chairman of Meath Camogie Kieran Devaney, who quickly adds that this is just the beginning. “We plan to ramp this up big time in the next few months as pitches start to come back into use and championship games attract the crowds.

“To that end we need new recruits. We need to add to the pubs and businesses that are already supplying us with bottles and cans. There are building sites in Dublin with 500 people on them and we have our bins located there. It’s not just Meath that’s giving back here.”

The money raised is a powerful demonstration of what can be achieved when a group of dedicated people row in behind an idea, a concept, an aspiration.

It’s a reminder too of that old saying: “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

TEAMWORK

Kieran Devaney traces the origins of the fund-raising project to a conversation in March of 2024 between well-known businessman Noel Moran and former Meath footballer Adrian O’Halloran, the proprietor of the famous Marcies hostelry in Trim.

“Adrian, who’s daughter Olivia played for the county, was probably telling Noel the plight of Meath Camogie in trying to get a field to even train on and I think Noel at the time was surprised at the lack of access to anywhere for training or games. Meath camogie doesn’t have a home.”

Helped along by the fact that Moran, the owner of Bective Stud among other business interests – and who sponsors both Meath football and camogie - the idea grew legs. “Noel having the entrepreneurial mind he has, the outlook of a successful businessman, he saw the opportunity very quickly,” adds Devaney who says speed in getting the fund-raising initiative underway as quick as possible was of the essence.

“It was about trying to be ahead of the posse because we would have thought every club, every organisation, would embrace the idea of collecting the bottles, once the DRS Scheme was introduced and that has turned out to be the case.”

“If you work for it there is money to be derived from the Scheme but you have to really work for it but at the same time the money doesn’t be long coming in when you get a good group of people together.”

The vice-chairman says that that high level of team-work and commitment shown by members and Meath Camogie and their friends has been both admirable and highly productive. He points out how teams of collectors have gone well beyond the borders of Meath to pick up the much sought-after booty. “As well as the Monaghan game we collected bottles and can at the Dunboyne 5k Road, the Puca Festival. We’ve gone all over the country to events,” he explains.

“We went to Electric Picnic, we got permission to collect there last year. We didn’t know if we would come back with 10 bags of bottles and cans. We came home with 350 bags which was massive. It was a massive undertaking by the army of girls and boys who went down to Electric Picnic and gave up their time to volunteer and go around the camp sites there, the players, mothers, coaches, friends who wanted to help out. We have great people involved but we’re always looking for more. ”

Noel Moran has proved to be more than just an encouraging figure in the background, providing financial support and encouragement. He is very much hands too when it comes to helping out.

“Noel brought his horsebox down to the Electric Picnic and we filled it four times. He had his own lads from the yard there, helping out. If we get there again this year we’re going to collect a lot more than 350 bags,” adds Devaney. “We’ll have our own articulated lorry if needs be, whatever we will have to do we will get them.

“It’s a fairly ambitious plan but there are some great people involved. It’s led by Noel who co-ordinates everything so with that kind of backing anything is possible. People can see what he has created out in Bective, we look forward to what we can create together. We haven’t a site chosen to buy or anything like that, we are a bit away from that, but collecting the €100,000 is a massive milestone.”

Devaney outlines how Meath Camogie have ambitions on other fronts. Right up there is the aim to increase the number of clubs putting out teams playing the small-ball game. “That all has to start at nursery level, at ages seven and eight, so it takes a long time for that to feed through but we can support any club that wants to bring in camogie, we can give them the resources they need to get it all off the ground. We’ll help them but getting it all off the ground is the hardest part.”

He points to how improved communications between Meath Camogie and the Co Committee has resulted in greater access to venues such as Pairc Tailteann. He thanks people such as Co Committee chairman Jason Plunkett and Pairc Tailteann’s Jim Lane for their backing in that respect.

The Camogie vice-chair also thanks and acknowledges the work done by so many in helping to raise the €100,000 earmarked for a new facility. It truly is an example of teamwork in action.

Many working towards a single goal.

An army on the march.