Looking to work or play Gaelic football in London? If so, Scanmoor Ltd and Tara GFC - London champions and All-Ireland quarter-finalists in 2003 - are interested in hearing from you. Scanmoor, which is a leading building and civil engineering company based in Harrow, Middlesex, has work opportunities for the following:- project managers, civil engineers (trainees and qualified), quantity surveyors (trainees and qualified), foremen, ganger men, tradesmen and student holiday workers. Scanmoor has strong connections with the Tara club which is based in Willesden, North West London. In fact, Scanmoor managing director and Westmeath native Jim Moore is currently club chairman and was a selector with the team which won the London and British football championships last year. Founded in the 1930s, Tara is a club which has traditionally had strong links with Leitrim. Nowadays, its members hail from all over Ireland. In recent times, its best known player has been Meath scoring sensation Ollie Murphy. While working in London, Murphy represented Tara with distinction and actually played for London in the 1994 Connacht championship - a year before he made his Leinster championship debut for Meath. Tara has a proud tradition in football with 2003 ranking as their most successful year since 1995 when they last captured the London and British championships. They regained the county title following a 0-14 to 0-8 victory over Kingdom/Kerry Gaels at Ruislip on October 5 last. The outcome was never in doubt with Stephen Lynch leading the Kingdom defence a merry dance. The corner forward finished as top scorer with 0-7, 0-5 of which came from play. Tara subsquently defeated Warwickshire champions Sean McDermott's by 2-8 to 0-9 at Pairc na hEireann, Birmingham to add the provincial championship. The visitors never looked back after first half goals from Paul Hehir and Lynch helped them into a commanding 2-4 to 0-3 lead at the interval. McDermott's had the better of the second half exchanges, but they left themselves with too much to do and Tara comfortably held on for victory. As British champions, Tara qualified to meet a star-studded An Ghaeltacht team in the All-Ireland quarter-final on December 7. Having played with the wind to their backs in the first half, the Kerry kingpins led by 1-8 to 0-3 at the break and a Dara O Cinneide goal stretched their advantage to 11 points within a minute of the restart. To the credit, Tara refused to give up the fight and they had the margin down to six points, 1-8 to 2-11, with 10 minutes remaining. But their revival came to an end in the 54th minute when An Ghaeltacht added a third goal to secure a rather flattering 3-12 to 1-8 win. After a few lean years, Moore was not surprisingly delighted with Tara's return to winning ways last season. "Our success was down to the dedication of the team and the arrival of a few new players," he explains. "The team was backboned by players who have inter-county experience - fellas like Pat Rafter (Mayo), Martin Murtagh (Westmeath), Ciaran Byrne (Carlow) and the Hehir brothers, Paul and Senan (Clare). Paul returned to play with us after a lengthy absence last year and was a key figure in our success." Tara are determined to retain their county and provincial titles in the coming season and have strengthened their squad further by acquiring the services of Limerick's Seamus Byrne and Paul Donoghue (Leitrim). However, they would welcome any player who has an interest in working in London. "We're always on the look-out for new players, especially as we're now seen as the team to beat in London. We'll need to be stronger than ever if we're to fend off the likes of Kingdom/Kerry Gaels, Parnells, St. Brendan's and Tir Chonaill Gaels in the coming year." Scanmoor was established by Jim in 1995 and has grown to the extent that it now has an annual turnover of approximately Stg£50 million. The company has built up an impressive list of clients and completed many successful projects throughout the UK. Scanmoor's main areas of expertise are civil engineering, rail construction and building, and refurbishment. Its civil engineering business is structured to offer comprehensive capabilities and experience in complex structure work, reinforced concrete work and external works using its own highly-skilled in-house team. The company services all aspects of project management for the rail construction environment. Its highly professional staff are experts in regenerating stations, maintaining and renewing the rail infrastructure, as well as managing every detail of contracts to the highest levels of safety and quality. Born in the football stronghold of Dunmore, Co. Galway, Jim Moore hails from a well-known GAA family in Mullingar. His brother Ned holds the distinction of having captained Mullingar Shamrocks to four consecutive Westmeath senior championship successes between 1992 and '95. Another brother, John, is highly respected in New York GAA circles and, having been instrumental in setting up the Westmeath club there, is now involved with the Tyrone club. It was during his days at St. Mary's CBS, Mullingar - where he was coached by former Galway star Sean Cleary - that Jim first became involved with The Downs. He recalls that the late Paddy Nolan and John Daly were the two men responsible for introducing him to was is regarded as one of Westmeath's most successful clubs. Jim was too young to have played on The Downs' famous three in-a-row team of 1968, '69 and '70, but played on the championship-winning team of 1974 at just 17 years of age. The previous year, he had played for The Downs in their under 21 final defeat to St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge. In 1978, Jim was captain of the under 21 team that lost the county final to Tubberclair after two replays. But two years later, he made amends for that disappointment by helping The Downs to victory over Kilbeggan in the senior championship decider. In 1986, Jim played on The Downs team which lost the county final to Mullingar Shamrocks. The Shamrocks had not won a final for 20 years, but went on to dominate the next decade, winning eight championships in a glorious era for the club. Ironically, Jim might well have been marking his brother Ned in the 1986 final had Ned not been working in the US at the time. After a 23-year lapse, The Downs won back the Westmeath senior championship last October following a replay victory over Athlone. For Moore, the victory was as much of a highlight as Tara's success. "It was great to see both the The Downs and Tara win championships in the same year," he says. "No one would have given The Downs a chance of winning a county title at the start of the year, but they were superbly prepared by Ray Smyth and couldn't be matched for fitness. The club has a great tradition and it's good to see them back where they belong." Since moving to London 16 years ago, Moore has ensconced himself in the local GAA scene. He became involved with Tara and is now into his second stint as chairman. When London visited Rochfortbridge (where Jim's wife Carol hails from) for a National League meeting with Westmeath last year, Scanmoor acted as match sponsors. The company has also provided sponsorship for previous matches involving the two teams. The appointment of Kerry legend Paidi O Se as Westmeath football manager has given rise to much excitement and expectancy in the Lake County. While acknowledging that O Se's appointment is a huge boost to Westmeath, Moore believes that they are still some distance away from being the finished article. "I'd love to see Westmeath win a Leinster championship and I think they have been very unlucky in the last few years, but the one thing that's holding them back is a lack of scoring forwards. Dessie Dolan is an exceptional forward, but unfortunately we don't have another forward of his calibre at the moment. We haven't been getting as many scores since Ger Heavin retired. "Supporters are expecting big things now that Paidi O Se is in charge, but success is something that doesn't happen overnight. Our league form hasn't been the best, but I wouldn't be too worried about that because at the end of the day, the championship is all that matters," he says. Jim is also a keen soccer supporter and made headlines in 2001 when, in a unique venture, he brought a group of players from the London soccer academy over to Mullingar to play for the local Mullingar Town club, of which his brother Martin is chairman. As a former Mullingar Town player, Jim's ambition is to see the club secure League of Ireland status in the near future. For further information on working or playing Gaelic football in London, contact one of the following:- Jim Moore 0044 7973 835541/[email protected] Joe Darcy 0044 7973 258570/[email protected] Andy Redican 0044 7973 394477/[email protected] Patrick Finneran 0044 7973 394478/[email protected] Scanmoor Ltd, 56-60 Northolt Road, Harrow HA2 0EY Telephone: 0044 208515 0900 Fax: 0044 208515 0901 E.mail: [email protected] Website: www.scanmoor.com Tweet

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