Monaghan Harps notes

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 3, 11, 12 and 23. Jackpot of €2,900 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Senan Dalton c/o Jim Dalton (Hurling Club); €40 Noreen O’Mahony c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 PoJo & Jimmy McKenna c/o Tír na nÓg (Hurling Club); €40 David White c/o Liadhan Treanor. Jackpot for Sunday, December 8 is €2,900 and Owen and Gráinne Connell are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. The Lotto AGM has been set for Sunday, December 15 at 8pm.

Table quiz: We host our annual Christmas table quiz in the clubhouse this Friday, December 6, at 8.30pm. Prizes will be available for the winning teams and there will also be plenty of spot-prizes on the night. €40 for a table of four players. All support would be greatly appreciated for what is always an enjoyable night.

AGM: A lengthy Harps Annual General Meeting took place in the clubhouse last Friday night. Secretary Lorcan McAdam opened the meeting with his report and the minutes of last year’s AGM. John Harden presented the accounts and thanked everyone who had helped raise money for the club this year, as well as Dermot Coyle for his work. Séamus McManus presented the report of the juvenile year, a busy one which saw various teams represent the club with pride, as well as the usual fundraisers and big days for the youth of the club such as the annual sports day and the presentation night. Fergus Coyle reported for the football-development committee, saying there had been good attendances and discussions at their meetings throughout the year and referencing their suggestion to set up street leagues for juveniles during the winter. The senior team report thanked everyone who had helped make it a progressive year, while Jimmy Croarkin thanked all involved with the successful Reserve Division Three team, who won the championship in July. Brian Lenehan spoke about the minors, who he praised for their efforts all year. The lads fell short in the league final and championship semi-final, but Brian believes they have an idea of what it takes to step up to senior level. Cultural Officer Gerard Clerkin thanked his hard-working committee, who had helped push Scór forward in the club this year at all levels. Rose Donnelly gave the Lotto report, mentioning the introduction of the new direct-debit scheme, as well as everyone who sells tickets and helps out with the draw each Sunday night. Seán Boyle, on behalf of the bar committee, appealed for greater support from club members for our clubhouse. Fergus Coyle told of how the ground-development committee had identified several areas in need of work and had made progress in some of these, including the purchase of a new scoreboard and talks on ground expansion. Gerard Gilsenan encouraged fellow members to continue the success of 2013 on the fundraising front, saying there is huge potential in the club and setting up a committee to develop a club plan.

Dermot Brannigan began his Chairman’s Address by paying tribute to club members and relatives who had passed away in the last 12 months, especially Mick Farrell, who he described as an unbelievable servant to the club. He said that the club had made strides in all areas this year and mentioned the pride felt when seeing Neil McAdam, Conor Galligan, Kevin Loughran and Fearghal McMahon win Ulster medals with Monaghan and when Yvonne Connell played in the All-Ireland Ladies Final. He referred to all the fundraisers run by the club during the year, giving the draw a special mention, as well as enjoyable club days like hosting the Arch Club and our annual charity match. Dermot thanked our club sponsors and all his fellow officers, as well as the various players and team mentors who wore the green and white jerseys this year. The recreational tournament in October and the exploits of our own team had again been a highlight of the year.

The election of officers was as follows: Chairman: TBC; Vice-Chairman: Gerard Gilsenan; Secretary: Lorcan McAdam; Assistant Secretary: Jimmy Croarkin; Treasurer: John Harden; Assistant Treasurers: Rose Donnelly and Seán Boyle; Registrar: Dermot Coyle; Coaching & Games Officer: Brian Lenehan; PRO: Colm Shalvey; Cultural Officer: Gerard Clerkin; Youth Officer: Michael O’Donoghue; Insurance Officer: Ann Treanor; ASAP Officer: Martin Sheridan; Development Officer: Ciarán Cuddy; County Board Delegate: Peter Coyle; Children’s Officer: Thomas McCabe.

This year’s senior and Reserve Division Three management teams were ratified for 2014, with no decision yet made on the O’Duffy Cup team or the minors. A letter from outgoing county secretary Seán McKenna was read out, thanking all at the club for their support in the last four years and expressing his hope that the Harps can build on this year’s progress. It was agreed that in future, the club will only have one entry in each discipline of the Scór competitions.

Thanks to Dermot Brannigan for his service to the club as chairman for the last five years and we are sure he will continue to be a valued member. Best of luck to Dermot and Liz in the next few weeks! See our website for full reports on the senior and juvenile AGMs.

Draw: We are delighted that we sold five of the 15 prize-winning tickets in the ‘Sportsperson’s Dream’ draw, which took place in Kildare last Saturday. We were especially happy to sell the fantastic Grand Slam Prize, worth €18,000, to Noreen McMorrow. Our other winners were: 6^th prize (equestrian): Claire Bourke; 7^th prize (golf): Michael Connell; 9^th prize (rugby): Packie McAdam and 15^th prize (motor racing): Alan Lee. Thanks to Gerard Gilsenan and everyone else involved for their efforts, which saw us our ticket sales compare favourably with the other ten organisations involved.

Management: Anyone interested in managing any of the club’s juvenile teams for 2014 is asked to contact Maurice Galligan on 087 2294377.

Christmas party: Our club Christmas party is set for Saturday week, December 14. We look forward to a big crowd joining us for a good night’s fun.

Bag pack: We are taking part in a bag-pack in Tesco in association with the Irish Cancer Society, next weekend; December 13 and 14. Please volunteer some of your time if you can!

Scór: Comhghairdeas to all the Monaghan Harps representatives who took part in the Scór na nÓg County Final last Friday night in Clontibret. In an excellent night’s entertainment we had three great wins. The first of the night was Tara Gilsenan in Amhránaíocht Aonair (Solo Singing), we then had the Bailéad Ghrúpa of Sadhbh McCabe, Tara Gilsenan, Annan Connor, Ella McKenny and Ellen Smith.  Finally, we had the new competition ‘an Léiriú’ with a team of seven: Danny & Dervla Tracey, Eoin McCleary, Dearbhla & Aisling Ní Ghallchóir, Helen McCrystal and Leah Reilly. They all won first place and will go on to represent the Harps at the Ulster semi-finals in Killeshandra on December 14. The Harps club also won the Deirdre Rooney trophy for the best club. This was the first time that our club won this award and it is a great honour. It goes without saying this award could not have been won without the children’s participation and the hard work by all the mentors, so go raibh míle maith agaibh from all at the Monaghan Harps club.

Good luck: To Kevin Loughran, John Mulligan, James McKenna, Dónal McCarthy, Evan Morahan, Darragh Hannon and the St. Macartan’s College team in the McCormack Cup Final against St. Pat’s, Cavan tonight (Tuesday) in Emyvale).

Youth prevails: The club’s Over-25 senior players took on the Under-25s in a fun soccer match at Gortakeegan last Saturday. An evenly-matched first half saw Fearghal McMahon, who had earlier seen a penalty well saved by Jimmy Croarkin, open the scoring, only for Dean Fanning to make it 1-1 at half-time. Stephen Driver’s Over-25 side stayed in touch well into the second half, but goals by Evan Doherty and Fearghal looked to kill the game off. Mark Hughes nodded home late on to revive hopes of a penalty shoot-out, only for Conor Galligan to fire home a spectacular insurance goal for the youngsters, managed by David Hughes and captained by Niall Hahessy. Well done to Conor Devlin and those who helped organise an enjoyable day.