Sinéad savouring Westmeath journey in busy PRO role
Westmeath GAA’s PRO Sinéad Kiernan has been exceptionally busy since the men’s senior team surprised pundits and the form book alike by beating Meath in Tullamore on April 19.
Suddenly Mark McHugh and his men were newsworthy from the perspective of the national media and with every subsequent victory on their championship journey, the requests for interviews have increased as has Sinéad and her team’s social media output.
Westmeath followed up the win over Meath with subsequent victories over Kildare, Dublin and Cavan, and Mark McHugh's side is currently preparing for next Sunday's eagerly awaited clash with Galway at Pearse Stadium.
The Westmeath football squad held an open training session at TEG Cusack Park in the aftermath of the Leinster final victory over Dublin, and there was huge interest in the event especially among young supporters.
Castletown Geoghegan native Sinead, who is also responsible for promoting the county’s hurling squads, said the past few weeks have been both exhilarating and challenging.
“From a PR point of view, we were trying to get the lads out there and get support out for them and thankfully that support was there. People came out in their thousands for the match against Kildare in Tullamore and you could see that it was the 16th man for the team in the match,” said the St Malachy’s woman.
“We have been very lucky. It has just been a fantastic year.”
Sinéad, who took over the PRO role from Kilbeggan’s Marie Lynagh last December, has spent the last few months juggling the ever-increasing demands of her voluntary county board role with her day job as a teacher in Loreto College, Mullingar.
While she loves her new role, she has been a little taken aback by how demanding it has been. And Sinéad even joked that if she had known how busy she was going to be, she might have reconsidered accepting the position.
However, she is not complaining as she knows that her workload is directly impacted by whether the Westmeath teams are going well or not. She is also full of praise for the contributions made by the other members of the PR team, Mark Casserly and Conor Kelly.
“It has been a full-time job, and I have my own full-time job as well. With the media work, everything has to be done 'now'. Everything is instant and social media has really taken off.
“It is something that I have a huge interest in and was part of the reason I took on the role. I had worked with companies and my own club with their social media. I really wanted to push Westmeath GAA’s social media and its website.
“People can get the information they need with a touch of their finger. We are very proud of the work that we put in and I have a great team with me.”
One of Sinéad’s aims has been to increase the profile of the Westmeath hurlers as well as the county’s currently high-flying footballers.
“People sometimes do not know what the hurlers look like because of their helmets. Unless someone is in their club, young people might not recognise them. My thing has been to do interviews with lads after games so people can see what the look like and hear what they sound like," she said.
“People want to connect with the players and get to know them. That is what the open training session was about. Kids got to see the likes of Senan Baker and John Heslin up close. When you see the crowds of people around the players, it is unbelievable.
“The players really bought into it and were more than happy to meet the people who encourage and support them. It has been unbelievable and there are probably not enough words to describe how proud we are of them.
“You sit in meetings to make plans in January and February and to see how the season is going is just phenomenal,” Sinéad added.