Athlone set for European invasion ahead of GAA finals

TEN European countries and the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey will be represented when up to 500 Gaelic football players converge on Athlone for this weekend’s hosting of the 2013 O’Neill’s European Gaelic Football Championships Finals (Saturday and Sunday).

The festival of Gaelic football takes place in Athlone Institute of Technology and promises to be an exciting watch for local Gaels.

There are teams entered in ladies football, men’s senior and intermediate grades, and they come from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, as well as the Channel Islanders of Guernsey and Jersey.

The action all begins at 9am on Saturday morning to be followed by a deluge of matches in each of the three grades.

At 7pm on Sunday, a dinner and presentation of medals will take place in the Count John McCormack Multi-Purpose Hall in Athlone IT followed by a live band in the Student Bar and Venue.