Glasgow club fears arson was anti-Irish incident

[Celt_Man]

Glasgow club fears arson was anti-Irish incident

Tir Conaill Harps Gaelic Athletic Club is to ask Strathclyde Police to investigate the torching of its minibus in a Glasgow street as a racist incident.

The 17-seat Renault and thousands of pounds worth of sporting equipment were burned beyond use after the attack, which took place in Glentanar Road, Lambhill, at around 2.30 in the morning of Monday, February 22nd.

The minibus was parked outside the yard of North Area Community Transport, where a club volunteer was to sit a minibus driving test later that morning.

Club officials estimate some £3,000 worth of sports equipment, including hurling helmets, sticks and sliothars, was destroyed. A DVD and audio system on the minibus also went up in flames. A compressed gas cylinder was found in the wreckage.

There appeared to have been no attempt to remove kit from the minibus before it was set on fire.

A club spokesperson said: "We will be asking the police to investigate this attack upon our minibus as a racist incident.

"All of the hurling gear and the DVD player were left in situ. There was no attempt to remove it and, as far as we are concerned, this is an arson attack against us because we are a Gaelic sports club and have community connections with Ireland and Irish people.

"If the police can provide us with another motive I'd be delighted to hear about it. In the meantime, we hope for the best and prepare for the worst."

The definition of a racist incident was provided by the Macpherson Enquiry Report into the death of Stephen Lawrence and has been adopted by the Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland. It says that "a racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person".

The most immediate impact of the loss of the minibus is that Tir Conaill Harps will not be able to play its part in a hurling tournament organised by Langside College and planned for this Friday, February 26th. Players from seven primary schools will take part and the club had volunteered a loan of equipment for the event.

Young players at Tir Conaill Harps community clubs in Townhead, Scotstoun and Shettleston, who rely on both the hurling equipment and the minibus to travel to training, will also be affected by the incident.

"This is a major challenge for the club," the spokesman added. "However, our reputation and work for young people from all backgrounds and cultures will ensure that a stronger club will emerge from this set-back .

"We have had a fantastic relationship with many Glasgow businesspeople in the past and we would hope that they will come to our aid to help get us back on the road again.

"We have also had offers of help from some of our partner schools and the Gaelic sports community in Ireland has offered to help replace the equipment."

[longrunsthefox]

That is terrible. i hope they get aid of some sort.

[the colonel]

Ulster Council were on the phone very quickly and have replaced all the hurling equipment that was lost, including helmets.  Fair play to them. First organisation to give any help. Hopefully authorities in Glasgow will help as regards to transport

[Celt_Man]

Ulster Council were on the phone very quickly and have replaced all the hurling equipment that was lost, including helmets.  Fair play to them. First organisation to give any help. Hopefully authorities in Glasgow will help as regards to transport

no way, fair to all at the Ulster Council so.  A move like that doesn't require 9 committee meetings to approve it.

[the colonel]

Yeah, fair play to Tom Daly, Ulster President, got Jimmy Darragh to send over the stuff and is due to arrive in Glasgow in the morning.

[ziggysego]

Well done to the Ulster GAA for stepping in and help out Tir Conaill GAC.

[soldier of destiny]

If anyone would like to make a donation to help Tír Conaill Gaels after this attack you can do so here: http://www.everyclick.com/tirconaillharpsgaelicathleticsclub

[the colonel]

If anyone would like to make a donation to help Tír Conaill Gaels after this attack you can do so here: http://www.everyclick.com/tirconaillharpsgaelicathleticsclub

Tir Conaill Harps- Tir Conaill Gaels are in London

[the colonel]

Info of Ulsters contribution including details of online donation

Ulster GAA save the day in Glasgow

The Glasgow based Tir Conaill Harps GAC were able to go ahead with their support for a primary schools hurling tournament when the Ulster Council intervened following the destruction of thousands of pounds worth of hurling equipment in an arson attack on their club mini-bus outside a community transport base in the north of the city.

The tournament at the city's Kelvin hall was the culmination of a coaching block in the schools run by Langside College's sports department as part of an HND sports coaching course. All of the students had been supported by the Scotland GAA's fulltime Community Development Administrator, Ciaran Kearney, who also ran a Foundation level Coaching course for them. "Within an hour of us discovering the bus was destroyed we had offers of help from both the Ulster Council and Croke Park. For this we will be forever grateful." commented club chiarman, Maurice Friel

Meanwhile, the Harps club are now focused on raising the substantial shortfall in the insurers valuation and the cost of a new bus. On Sunday they got a great response from the Glasgow public at a bag packing at Tesco in the east end of Glasgow which raised £500. The club will be meeting soon to outline their plans to raise the shortfall. It already seems certain that the proceeds of their annual charity dinner in April which funds all of the club community development activities will now have to be set aside to finance the new bus. "It is disappointing that we have to go down this road as the dinner usually covers all of our coaching, equipment and youth leadership activities for the next twelve months, but the priority for us is transport. We are not set up like a traditional GAA club at home. Our children are spread all over the city so transport is the key " explained the club chairman. Due to lack of games locally the bus is also used regularly to take teams over to Ireland for games. In the coming weeks the under 12 hurlers and under 10s footballers had planned to go on trips. These have now been shelved until the bus is replaced.

The club have an online appeal set up on their website and anyone wishing to make a small donation can do so by linking to http://www.everyclick.com/fundraising/donate?id=9874&cn=Tir-Conaill-Harps-Gaelic-Athletics-Club

[soldier of destiny]

If anyone would like to make a donation to help Tír Conaill Gaels after this attack you can do so here: http://www.everyclick.com/tirconaillharpsgaelicathleticsclub

Tir Conaill Harps- Tir Conaill Gaels are in London

Sorry about that typo.