Warriors to benefit from lottery funding

SPORT is hugely important to local man Alan Lynch who lost the use of his legs following an accident.

Alan is the club captain and chairman of the Gaelic Warriors Wheelchair Rugby Club, founded in Clontarf in 1997. 

“Wheelchair rugby is good for both the body and the mind,” said Alan.

“It is helping many Irish men and women put their lives back together and gives them a focus for the future. 

“The sport gets people active again, it keeps them fit and instead of focusing on their disability, players concentrate on doing well in a game with their teammates.”

Alan said the sport has helped him cope with his disability.

“I had an accident when I was 14 when I fell from a tree and broke two vertebrae in my neck,” he said.

“Through rehab I came across wheelchair rugby and have really embraced it, as have the others in the club. 

“We take our sport seriously but we also enjoying the social aspect and everyone gets game-time on court.”

The slogan on the Irish Wheelchair Rugby website reads: ‘Wrecking Wheelchairs in Ireland since 1997’. 

“So as you can imagine, these wheelchairs need constant upkeep,” said Alan. 

Thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding of €25,000, the Gaelic Warriors club was able to buy five specially adapted wheelchairs.

Specially designed offensive and defensive chairs, imported from the US and New Zealand at a cost of around €5,000 each, are needed for the sport.

“National Lottery funding has allowed us to buy some chairs for players and to get essential maintenance for others,” added Alan.  

“Because of the physical nature of the sport there are often a few broken parts so the lottery funding meant we could get those fixed.”

The National Lottery also funded the Laois Lions, another wheelchair rugby team, to the tune of €34,000 (through Sports Capital Funding and HSE grants), and provided grant aid for the Irish National Wheelchair Rugby side (€25,000).

Gaelic Warriors has both male and female members and takes part in a national league. A number of the Clontarf players, including Alan, are part of the Irish national squad that will travel to Switzerland in April to contest the World Championship qualifiers. 

National Lottery chief executive Dermot Griffin, said: “We wish the Irish National Wheelchair Rugby team every success in Switzerland. 

“It is always wonderful to hear how National Lottery Good Causes funding is impacting positively on clubs, communities and individuals all over the country.

“The National Lottery was set up over 30 years ago with the express purpose of raising funds for Good Causes and in that period more than €5 billion has been raised and distributed through Government departments to organisations, projects and individuals all over Ireland  in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish language.”