Ennistymon hurlers are fortunate to have a number of sponsors who have generously look after the club's finances for the last few years. Chairman of the Clare side Tony Slattery spoke to Hogan Stand about what their various sponsorship deals mean to them. Ennistymon cater for ten hurling teams from under-12 right up to adult level. To have so many teams to look after costs a lot of money and with extra expenses emerging every year, some of the smaller rural clubs are struggling to keep their heads above water. GAA Clubs all around the country rely on sponsorship to keep their finances in the black on an annual basis. The day-to-day running of any club has escalated dramatically in recent times. Ennistymon could be classed as a small rural club, but they are definitely not struggling as the likes John Byrne Construction, Drocon Construction Ltd and McMahon's Bar all help out with sponsorship. Tony has been living in the parish for the past 20 years and has been chairman of the club for the past four. He admits that the running of any club is not an easy task. "It takes a lot of hard working and dedicated people to run a club and I'm sure anyone in the country would agree with that. The price of insurance, hurls, sliothars and development work all costs a lot of money," said Tony. "We rely on fundraising, grants and of course our sponsors to help finance the club for the year. It can be an arduous task, but is well worth doing. This year we are building a new stand and we have a major fundraising drive about to start. "We opened our new pitch in 1995 and did a lot of work on the grounds around that time. So the club is pretty pleased with what it has achieved so far." The Ennistymon hurling club are relatively new to the GAA scene as they were only established in 1977. Located in the same parish as Lahinch, the area would generally be noted as a football area. There is also a football club in the parish by the same name and although most of the players involved play both codes, two separate committees look after the respective clubs. However, there is a good understanding between the two outfits. The hurlers of the parish ply their trade in the intermediate grade, following their success in the 2004 junior hurling championship. That win came on the back of defeats in the previous two finals. "It was great to win the junior championship. We had been beaten in the last two finals before that and great credit to the lads, they stuck with it and got their just reward," added Tony. The club chairman had special praise also for team trainer during that period, Clare hurler Davy Fitzgerald, who Tony believes showed great belief in the side by staying at the helm for three years. "Davy could have easily walked away from us after we were beaten in the final the first year. But, in fairness to him he stayed until we won the junior championship. In my opinion that showed his dedication to the club," he stressed. Ennistymon place a great emphasis on their underage structure and have reaped the rewards in recent years by winning seven underage titles in the last nine years. Winning the under-14 championship in 2005 was their last success, although the majority of their underage teams made the semi-finals of their respective championships and Tony believes that the teaching of the basic skills at a very young age is a major factor in their success. "Every Sunday, we teach the basic skills to the kids. We run tournaments at under-10 and under-12, which is very enjoyable for the children. "There could be anywhere between 70-80 kids under-12 here on a Sunday and the tournaments have proven to be very beneficial to the club and kids. "We have a great core of people who do tremendous work for the club and in particular at underage level. People like Pascal Malone and John O'Looney in particular have dedicated a great amount of time to the underage in the club. "Our secretary Paul O'Loughlin keeps everything in order, while founder member Michael Malone has done some trojan work down through the years and is still an active member of the club. Michael is a selector with this year's team," revealed Tony. As mentioned earlier, the sponsors play a big part in the club and John Byrne, who is managing director of John Byrne Construction, is delighted to be able to help out the local side. "I had no problem getting involved with sponsoring some of the teams, so it was decided that I would sponsor the under-12 and under-14 sides. We have being do that for the last two years, but have helped the club out with sponsorship in the past also," said John. The Donegal native spent time in America, England and Germany before settling in his wife's home place. With a huge amount of experience behind him in the building trade, John decided to set up business eight years ago and has never looked back since. "Fortunately, we have been kept busy since I first started the business and I now employ 24, while we also have a number of sub contractors on the books." John Byrne Construction specialises private dwellings, housing developments and commercial buildings and among the bigger projects that the company has completed in recent times are the Tourist and Information centre in Ballybutton and the Holywell Restaurant. As John looks after the under-12 and under-14 teams, his brother-in-law Pat Durney sponsors the under-16 and minor sides with the name of his company, Drocon Construction Ltd adorning their jerseys. Pat along with Denis O'Sullivan established the company in 1997. Specialising in steel fixing, shuttering and concrete forming, Drocon have become one of the leading firms and have worked on many major developments in the south-west. "Some of the more recent jobs we have worked on include Jury's Hotel in Limerick, Carlton Shopping centre and the Castle Hope Development in Galway city. "We have also begun building houses and have or are working in Limerick, Cork, Clare and Galway. At the moment we are quite busy" said Pat. Depending on how busy they are, Drocon could employ anywhere between 50 and 180 people, depending on the job, while they also use sub contractors on specific jobs. Based in Ennistymon, Drocon Construction Ltd are in the middle of a big project for renowned building firm PJ Hegarty and Pat admitted that his sponsorship deal with the club was his way of giving something back to the community. "We have been sponsoring the club in some way or another for the last few years. They approached us to look after the underage and we were happy to do so." Tweet

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