Council Chair hosts a reception for Fermanagh Ladies GAA All Ireland Junior Champions

Recently the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor John McClaughry, hosted a reception for the Fermanagh Ladies GAA Team in recognition of winning the All Ireland Junior Championship.

The following is a copy of the speech made by the Chair at the reception:

Good evening Councillors, ladies and gentlemen

As Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, I am delighted to welcome you all here to the Townhall, Enniskillen for this reception in honour of Fermanagh Ladies GAA Team, the 2024 TG4 All Ireland Junior Champions.

Your journey in the Ladies Junior Championship started with matches against Carlow, Sligo and Derry (Londonderry) which you won.  This guaranteed you a top place ranking and qualification for the semi-finals.  However, you had one more match against London in which you didn’t hold back and you had a significant win with a scoreline of 8 goals 17 points to 1 goal 3 points.

The semi-final saw you take on Limerick and I understand this was a very close match with the lead changing a few times.  Your determination and talent along with a good strong defence shone through as you won with a two-point lead and a place in the Final.

On 04 August 2024, all roads led to Croke Park for the final where your opponents were Louth.  You had a strong start with Eimear Smyth scoring a goal after 10 minutes.  I understand you went 5 points clear on two occasions in the first half and at half time the difference was just 3 points.

At the start of the second half you had excellent shots by Niamh McManus saved, however, once again, you stayed strong and showed your determination to keep the lead and lift the title of All Ireland Junior Champions 2024.

This is the third time you have won the title and the first time since 2020.  I believe that with 3 wins and two Runner Up positions, you are joint 2^nd in the overall winners table.

It would be remiss of me not to mention Eimear Smyth who was the Player of the Final with 1 goal and 9 points scored and you also deservedly won the Gold Boat having scored 7 goals 39 points throughout the Championship.

I would also like to commend the six players who made the TG4 Team of the Championship.  This shows the talent and high level of performance you displayed throughout the tournament.

As well as having the opportunity to play the sport and be physically active, being involved in a sports team helps to build confidence and self-esteem.  It also makes you realise that everyone has different strengths and you value what each player brings to the team to achieve success collectively.  These are important attributes which can benefit you in your working and personal life as well.  It is for this reason that it is important to encourage our young people to play sport and be part of a team.  I am confident that you will have inspired that next generation of Ladies GAA players who will play for the County.

I would like to commend Manager CJ McGourty on how you have coached and trained the team to enable them to enjoy this level of success.

I would like to commend each and every player on your success and your commitment to the team with many hours of training for each of the matches.  This will have undoubtedly resulted in you having to make sacrifices along the way, however, I hope this momentous occasion will go some way to compensate for this.

On behalf of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and on my own behalf, I congratulate Fermanagh Ladies and the Management and Coaching Team on winning the All Ireland Junior Championship title and wish you every success for the future, particularly as you progress to the Intermediate Level.

Thank you.