In attendance are from left, Kieran Molloy of NUIG, Rory O’Connor of DCU Dóchas Éireann, Tim O’Mahoney of Mary Immaculate College, Brendan McCaul of DCU Dóchas Éireann, Ray Connellan of UCD, Paul Hoban of NUIG, Riain McBride of DCU Dóchas Éireann and Liam Rafferty of St Mary’s, with the Fitzgibbon Cup and Sigerson Cup during the Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Championships Launch and Draw at DCU, Dublin.
Comhairle Ardoideachais and Cumann Lúthchleas Gael are delighted to launch the 2020 Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Championships.
This is the third year the sponsorship between Electric Ireland and the GAA of this sector and we are delighted with their continued support.
Earlier this afternoon in DCU, the draws for the 2020 Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Championships were made producing some mouth-watering ties to look forward to in the New Year.
Speaking on behalf of Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Uachtaráin Seán Ó hÓráin said: “These competitions are hugely popular among players, possess a long and distinguished history and continue to play an important role in developing talented young hurlers and footballers.
“I'd like to thank Comhairle Ardoideachais for their commitment to promoting Gaelic Games across Third Level and to our partners in Electric Ireland for their continuing enthusiastic support.”
Speaking at the draw, Maeve Galvin, Sponsorship Programme Manager at Electric Ireland, said: “In our three years sponsoring the Electric Ireland Higher Education Championships, we have been on a truly exciting journey. We launched our platform “First Class Rivals” in 2018 and in 2019, live streamed some of the key games across the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon and Sigerson Cups.
“This made the games more accessible to a wider audience. In 2020 our campaign looks to celebrate the unexpected alliances formed through County rivals joining forces in pursuit of one common goal. We are looking forward to another season of excitement and fierce competition as students across the country battle for some of the most coveted titles in GAA.”
Speaking on behalf of the Féíle CA hosts, President of DCU, Brian MacCraith said: “The Fitzgibbon Cup and Sigerson Cup Finals are major events in the Irish sporting calendar and DCU is proud to host them. DCU celebrates its 40th birthday in 2020 and, with our university's strong GAA heritage, it's a fitting year for DCU to host this year's Féile Comhairle Ardoideachais.”
Maeve Galvin, Sponsorship Programme Manager, Electric Ireland, with, from left, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael John Horan, Michael Hyland, Chairperson of HE GAA, and Professor Brian MacCraith President of DCU, during the Electric Ireland Higher Education GAA Championships Launch and Draw at DCU, Dublin.
Again, this year, all Sigerson fixtures will be played on campuses/local venues as part of the seventh year of a home-and-away agreement between all clubs.
Any pairings which occurred over the last 6 years will now revert to the other club’s venue. With improvements made to many of the GAA facilities in the Higher Education sector this will give clubs the opportunity to showcase their venues and will continue to raise the interest of the local student body in these fixtures.
With fixtures in the Electric Ireland HE GAA Championships scheduled to start on Sunday January 12th, 2020, full details of dates, times and venues will be circulated later this week.
Fixtures, results and news updates will be available throughout the season on www.gaa.ie/higherducation
Follow all the action on the ‘GAA Higher Education’ Facebook page and on Twitter @HigherEdGAA and the hashtags: #ElectricIrelandSigerson #ElectricIrelandFitzgibbon #HEGAA #FirstClassRivals
See below for the 2020 Electric Ireland HE GAA Championships Fixtures Booklet.