On the same day that Dermot Earley Jr. was on the sideline guiding the Irish International Rules team in their successful test series match against Australia, over 130 young members from 74 clubs across the 8 counties received awards in Croke Park for their participation in the Dermot Earley Youth Leadership Initiative. Cuala was the GAA club with the greatest number of participants and one of them offers us a perspective on the programme.
Hello, my name is Ryan and I play for Cuala U15s.
I am currently partaking in the Dermot Earley youth leadership initiative along with more than 10 other Cuala players from both boys and girls .
Our group has recently finished module 1 of the program which contained vital information on what it takes to be a leader and what sort of characteristics you have to have to be a leader.
The Dermot Earley program has spread from 3 counties to 8. This is also the first year that the Dermot Early initiative has been in Dublin and it was an honour to be a part of it. The mentors were great and they really knew what they were talking about. As a treat for finishing module 1 we got a certificate showing that we finished module one along with a free lunch on the day of the international rules match on the 21st of November 2015. We also got free tickets to both the Shinty and the International rules match.
Safe to say the Dermot Earley youth program initiative has been the highlight of my 2015 year.
Its a great opportunity to make new friends and improve your friendship with people you may not have talked to in the past.
I have been very privileged to have been chosen to be a part of the program.
I would highly recommend the program for everyone in the future.
Ryan Kelly
