Limerick Independent, Page 16, 08-Oct-2008
Limerick GAA fans raise a whopping €20,000 for local clubs and schools

Limerick GAA fans have raised €20,000 for local clubs and schools as part of a nationwide fundraising effort.
In total €20,959 was raised in Limerick between January and June this year and €3.4m was raised across the country over the past four years.

Limerick earned 13% of the total Munster payout, taking an equal share with neighbouring Tipperary.
Cork was the highest earner in the province, meanwhile over the past four years, Limerick GAA die-hards have earned a total of €162,842.

“It is only due to the support and loyalty of the members of the Limerick Association and the GAA itself, whose commitment to this project is invaluable, that we have been able to raise such a large sum,” says Ciaran Doyle, General Manager, Gaelic Telecom.

“Working with the fans and the Association, we, as the official telecoms partner to the GAA, are incredibly proud of the funds raised so far and hope they have made a real difference to clubs and schools in the county” Mr. Doyle added.

The innovative but simple scheme sees 15% of call costs being donated back to customers’ preferred club or school, while at the same time saving them money on their home phone and Broadband bills.
All 32 County Boards support the scheme, which sees 2,500 Clubs around the country receive cheques from Gaelic Telecom twice a year.

Nickey Brennan, President of the GAA, comments, “On behalf of all our members, I would once again like to thank Gaelic Telecom and its customers for their ongoing support of GAA Clubs and Schools nationwide. This significant continuous investment at grassroots level is vital to the organisation and I would urge all GAA members to consider signing up to this initiative and helping us to maximise this great funding opportunity.” Between January and June of this year, a total of €520,000 was raised by Gaelic Telecom customers. All Provinces showed great growth and while Cork, Dublin and Tyrone were the highest earners nationally, Armagh, Derry and Fermanagh showed the highest growth on the same period in 2007. The total raised by the 6 Northern Counties during the same period was €110,143.