Fixture: Saturday, March 1: RFL Division Three v Toome (Away) at 4.30pm

 

Monaghan Harps Lotto: Numbers 6, 9, 12 and 15. Jackpot of €4,000 not won. Residual prizes: €100 Frank McAdam c/o Séamus Treanor; €40 Ivan Maxwell c/o Paddy Donnelly; €40 Margaret McPhillips c/o Jim Dalton (Hurling Club); €40 Gareth Treanor c/o Ann Treanor. Jackpot for Sunday, March 2 is €4,100 and Maria and Hugh McKenna are on duty. Lotto draw takes place in the clubhouse every Sunday night. All welcome. The Lotto plays an essential part in the running of the club and we ask for everyone’s continued support. Please note that tickets can be brought down to the clubhouse from 7.45pm on Sundays.

 

Juvenile presentation: Our juvenile presentation takes place this Friday, February 28 in the clubhouse at 7.30pm, with medals to be presented to two Under-14 football teams, Under-12s, the hugely successful underage hurlers and handballers and Scór participants by our Ulster senior and minor winning players. Everyone is welcome to come along on the night and support our young players on what will be a great occasion for all sections of the club. Please also bring along some sandwiches if you can.

 

Reserves: The club’s first official fixture of 2014 is our third team’s RFL Division Three opener away to Toome on Saturday at 4.30pm. Good luck to all involved.

 

Membership: Membership fees for 2014 can now be paid to Maurice Galligan, who is standing in for Dermot Coyle for the next few weeks. Fees for 2014 are being maintained as follows: €20 per adult, €10 per child or €50 for a family of two adults and any number of children. Members must be paid up by March 31 to have voting rights at our AGM.

 

GAA National Draw: We are now selling tickets for the GAA National Club Draw, which offers ten great prizes including trips to Australia to the International Rules panel and to Boston with the All-Stars. Tickets for the St. Patrick’s Day draw cost €10 each and are available now from committee members and players. All funds raised will be retained by the club and we appreciate all support. Tickets are available now from senior players and committee members. Contact Jimmy Croarkin at 087 1249635 if you want a book of tickets. All support with this draw would be greatly appreciated. Please bring tickets sold and money raised into the clubhouse on Sunday night from 8pm.

 

Garda vetting: In keeping with best practice and child protection legislation, it is important that everyone involved in the club committee, coaching etc. completes a Garda vetting form. Children’s Officer Tommy McCabe is now completing an up-to-date audit of successfully vetted club personnel. If you have a certificate, please provide Tommy with a photocopy and if you need a vetting form, you can contact him at 087 7635891.

 

Fixtures: The Senior Football League will start on Sunday, March 23 away to Scotstown, with the RFL Division 1A to begin on March 8 at home to Clontibret and the minor league to get underway on March 25, also away to Scotstown. The start dates for juvenile competitions are as follows: Under-12 football: March 15; Under-14 football: March 8; Under-16 football: April 3; Under-12 hurling: June 2; Under-14 hurling: March 24; Under-16 hurling: June 23. Full club fixtures for March are now on our website.

 

St. Patrick’s Day: Plans are now underway for the club’s annual participation in the Monaghan town St. Patrick’s Day parade. Keep an eye on club notes and website for more details.

 

Circuit training: With All-Ireland winner Ronan Clarke starts in the Monaghan Harps clubhouse next Wednesday and Friday and is a great way of getting fit. Cost €5 per session.

 

Hard luck: To Kevin Loughran, John Mulligan, Dónal McCarthy, Evan Morahan, James McKenna, Darragh Hannon and the St. Macartan’s College MacRory Cup team, who lost their quarter-final against St. Pat’s, Maghera last Friday.

 

Coaching courses: Anyone interested in doing a foundation coaching course or doing/renewing the child protection course on March 21/22 is asked to contact Una Forde on 087 6107329. There are a number of other coaching courses taking place in the coming months. See Monaghan GAA website or contact Val or Una for more details.

 

U-10s: Our Under-10s are thriving in the ongoing Indoor Football League, which has been running over the last number of weeks. Well done to everyone involved in this initiative, which has been a great success.

 

Family Fortunes: Anyone willing to take part in our ‘Family Fortunes’ fundraiser on March 16, especially from the hurlers or ladies, please contact Liadhan Treanor on 086 7837204.

 

Congratulations: To Finnian McKenna and his new wife Donna, who got married on Friday week last.

 

Sympathy: The club sends sympathy to Ciarán Cuddy and family on the death of his father, Aidan. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

 

Good luck: To Shane Smyth, Conor Galligan and the Monaghan senior footballers against Donegal in Letterkenny on Sunday.

 

Team photos: If anyone has any team photos that they would like to have put up in the clubhouse, please contact Liadhan Treanor on 086 7837204.

 

Gavan Duffy talk: There is a talk in Monaghan museum this Thursday, February 27, at 8pm about Charles Gavan Duffy. If you are interested in learning about the man our grounds are named after, this should be a useful and informative evening.

 

Ladies: Reminder to all that as club pitches re-open in the first week of March, trainings will be on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7pm. Keep checking the Club Viber page for regular updates on training in the interim. Scór presentation night is on in the Harps Complex on Friday at 8pm. All are welcome. Registration is due for collection by all managements for forwarding to Allison. Senior: €55, under-18/16/14: €40, under-10: €25 and non-playing members: €30.

 

Handball: Good luck to head coach Martin McEntee and Club Secretary Conor McDonnell, who are both in action in Ulster finals next Sunday in Beragh. Martin is teaming up with Pete Larkin in the Emerald Masters ‘A’ Doubles final against Thomas Maguire and Tony Cadell from Antrim at 4pm. This is preceded at 2pm by the Golden Masters ‘B’ Doubles Final, where Conor teams up with Paul Cassidy (Scotstown) against Antrim’s Steve Roberts and Gerry Rafferty. Nine Harps boys and one girl have reached the Ulster Juvenile Finals to be held in Kingscourt on Sunday week, March 9. A tough task lies ahead for Eoghan, Jakub, Tiarnán, Deivydas, Conor, Konrad, Justas, Caileán, Hubert and Neda (the first-ever Harps girl to reach an Ulster Handball Final). Good luck and thank you to parents who supported at semis last week.