Drumree hurlers can look back on the 2011 campaign with some pride as they achieved their goal of consolidating their place in the senior hurling ranks.

Much of the hurling fraternity were left surprised by the ease in which Drumree not only survived a swift return to the intermediate ranks, but they avoided the potential banana skin of a relegation play off.
The club's underage structure has gone from strength to strength too as they field sides in every grade and the promotion of hurling in the area is at its most consistent ever.

Like all clubs, sponsorship is arguably thee most aspect of running a club as without the necessary funding, it would be virtually impossible to cater for any teams. However, obtaining sponsorship is not the easiest, especially in the current economic climate and on this front, Drumree are fortunate to have Thornton Waste as their main sponsor.
Not only have the club sponsored numerous sets of jerseys since they begun sponsoring club four years ago, but they have also helped out in many other ways as well.

Thornton Waste Domestic Supervisor David Farrell is a Drumree club man and he revealed to the Royal County Yearbook that the company have been very helpful over the years.
"When I first approached Thornton's about the sponsorship, they had no problem at all in doing it and I have to say they have been great to us since," said David.
"Not only would they give us jerseys, which they have done on a few occasions, but they helped out in other ways as well like when we were doing some work on the pitch, they had no problems in lending us machines to help seed the pitch.

"It is very important to have a good sponsor and I don't think anyone in the club would have a bad word to say about Thornton's; hopefully they will sponsor us for many years to come."
Thorntons Recycling is one of the most successful companies in Ireland's waste management industry recovering over 80% of the 250,000 tonnes of material processed annually. The company operates a number of facilities in Dublin, Meath and Kildare. Thornton's have invested in excess of €50m in state of the art facilities and sorting technologies with a view to recovering as much of the material it collects.
The company was founded in 1979 by the late Padraig and Carmel Thornton. Thornton currently employs over 200 staff and operates a fleet of over 100 trucks.

Over 35,000 residential and commercial customers trust us to manage their recycling and waste management services. They are a fully integrated waste management and recycling company with a proven track record in delivering efficient, legal and economical waste management, recovery and recycling solutions for their customers.
"I would be with the company for the past 21 years. I started working on the bins, before driving a bin lorry and so on. There have been many changes in the waste management industry over the years and there is a lot more legislation now.

"Gary Brady is the managing director while Padraig's sons Paul and Shane are directors. We recently acquired a contract to supply all the wheelie bins to South Dublin County Council, which would add in the region of 40,000 homes to our customer base."
David was a selector with Drumree this year having hung up his hurl a few years back. Indeed he was captain of the side that won the 2003 intermediate hurling championship when they surprised favourites Clann Na nGael in the decider.
"I stopped playing about five or six years ago now, but I've been involved in some capacity since. I was part of the management team this year and we were delighted with the performances of the lads.

"Another result and we would have made the knockout stages, which would have been a huge achievement for a small club like ourselves. We have a small panel of players to choose from, but in fairness they are a committed bunch and most of them put in a huge effort this year."
David revealed that the appointment of Kevin Dowd as manager was a huge boost for the club and that his experience was invaluable throughout the year.

"We were very happy with Kevin and hopefully he will stay with us next year. If the right effort is put in again next year, then there is no reason why we can't reach the knockout stages."
Drumree have placed a greater emphasis on their underage structure in recent years and David is delighted with the outcome as they continue to build from the bottom.

"There is a lot of work being done at underage level and we are delighted with the progress. They are competing in every grade and that is something we couldn't do just a few years ago. Numbers would be tight in most grades, but the main thing is that we are fielding teams and giving the kids much needed games.
"Hopefully in a couple of years some of these can come through to the senior ranks and if we work hard enough who knows how far we can go." Tweet

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