Reach

Photo owned by ♥Sage (cc)

Was in UL arena last night to see Notre Dame university team easily account for the irish basketball team. Even though it was only a friendly, it was quite exciting end to end stuff and fairly physical. Great crowd. A few weeks ago the Limerick blogger observed that a lot of negative stuff about the city was been recounted on the travel blogs of tourists etc. Well no such fear with the Notre Dame side. Kyle McAlarney(senior guard) is writing about their experience and I hope someone from Shannon Develpoment is reading it because he thinks the whole area is brilliant. I particularly like his description of breaking the rules in Bunratty. 

There were all these signs in the castle and around the little village that said "Do Not Enter" and "No Trespassing" but I wanted to experience everything. I'd hop a fence or go where I wasn't supposed just to get a picture that no one else will have. There was one spot in the castle where the top level was closed, but I just kind of climbed up there. It was blocked off, but it was a cool little room. I could have fallen from the top and no one would have ever found me. Every door I saw I was trying to open thinking, 'This is where my ancestors came from.'

Innocent maybe but refreshingly honest.

Of course indoor sports are probably the only solution this weather and it is not like we will be saving up for any visit to Dublin for GAA finals. That doesn't mean Limerick can't emerge as all-Ireland Champions of sorts in Croke Park though. Cúl Green is aiming to make Croke Park carbon neutral through a system of pledges. Worth registering for. It is a step in the right direction from the GAA and it will be interesting to see how fast this spreads. There is also a carrot to encourage pledges and that is the County Challenge. The county which produces the most amount of pledges will receive 20,000 euro in training gear. As I write Limerick is wiping the rest of the country, so pledge and make it happen. Sure we are the natural Green champions :-)

Shane

Update: Highlights from UL Southern Slam up on irish sport