GAA clubs encouraged to support road safety campaign

At Tuesday's Westmeath GAA County Committee meeting, Senior Engineer Damien Grennan from Westmeath County Council outlined a significant road safety initiative aimed at GAA clubs across the county.

Speaking during the October meeting of club delegates at the Mullingar Park Hotel, Mr Grennan emphasised the importance of promoting road safety to save lives and reduce fatalities, particularly among younger people. He shared alarming statistics, stating that 139 people had been killed on Irish roads this year, with seven fatalities in Westmeath alone. This year, three people have died on the county’s roads with many more serious injuries not included in that total.

Mr Grennan explained that Westmeath County Council had been working closely with Westmeath GAA over the past six months to develop a campaign targeting those aged between 18 and 35, the group most affected by road traffic incidents. “Nearly 40% of those killed or seriously injured on our roads are in this age group,” he noted.

The campaign will see a large sign erected at the entrance of TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar, with plans to extend it to all GAA grounds in the county. The sign will carry the message, "Be a team player. Think road safety. A mistake on the field could cost the game; a mistake on the road could cost you your life." It will also highlight four key points: phone down, belt up, slow down, and never drink and drive.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between Westmeath County Council, Westmeath GAA, and the Garda Síochána, with a large-scale launch planned for the coming weeks. Grennan said that they hope to roll out similar signs in all GAA grounds across Westmeath. Clubs will be encouraged to post images of the signs on social media, tagging the County Council and GAA, in a bid to spread the message as widely as possible.

“We believe GAA grounds are the perfect location for this, with so many young people attending from nursery level to adults,” Grennan said. “If it saves even one life, it will be well worth the effort.”

Further details will be shared with clubs in the coming weeks, as the Council moves forward with the campaign.

Westmeath GAA County Committee Chairman, Frank Mescall, welcomed the initiative and felt that all the clubs in the county will lend their support, given how relevant the issue is.

Mr Grennan is involved in various road safety campaigns with the council and he explained raising awareness is a key part of the work involved.

“We’ll work with GAA clubs across Westmeath to roll out these signs. We’re hoping to produce 40 or 50 signs, and we’ll deliver them to clubs that are interested. We’re encouraging clubs to take a picture with their underage teams and post it on social media to help spread the message even further,” he said.

“We’re planning to launch the campaign at TEG Cusack Park with a big event, involving Westmeath GAA, Westmeath County Council, and An Garda Síochána.”

“We’ve had great support from the GAA and Frank Mescall and Patrick Doherty (Westmeath GAA’s Head of Operations) and we’re really hoping to getting this campaign up and running across the county.”