Fixtures: Friday, March 15: U-14 FL Division 5B v Corduff (Away) at 7pm
Saturday, March 16: U-14 FL Division One v Donaghmoyne (Home) at 11am
Sunday, March 17: RFL Division 1A v Latton (Away) at 12.30pm
Monday, March 18: U-14 FL Division 5A v Aughnamullen (Home) at 11am
Monaghan Harps Lotto: The numbers for last Sunday's draw were 6, 7, 10 and 29. Jackpot of €2,400 not won. This week's four €40 lucky-dip prize winners were: Seán McKenna c/o ClubZap; Paul Connolly c/o Ann Treanor; Úna Forde c/o ClubZap; and Pauline Ormond c/o Jimmy Croarkin. The sellers' prize of €20 was won by Paddy Donnelly. Jackpot for Sunday, March 17 is €2,500. Thanks to everyone for your continued support for our lotto, which plays an integral part for the club and is funding our ongoing development works. Please note that the cut-off point for ClubZap each week is 6pm on Sunday.
Reserves: We start the Reserve Football League Division 1A with an away game against Latton this Sunday, March 17, at 12.30pm. Good luck to Gary Trappe, Michael Buckley, Thomas Keelaghan and the team.
U-14: Our U-14s begin their league campaigns with a busy schedule this weekend. Our Division One team host Donaghmoyne on Saturday at 11am, while we also have games in Division 5A at home to Aughnamullen, which is now due to be played on Monday, and Division 5B away to Corduff tomorrow evening (Friday). Good luck to Brian Lenehan, Kieran McCaffrey, Scott McCaffrey, Jerome McGinnity, Michael McKenna, Dónal Hahessy, Oisín Reilly and everyone involved.
St. Patrick's Day: Monaghan Harps Juveniles will be taking part in the St. Patrick's Day parade this Sunday. Please arrive to the clubhouse at 2.30pm and we will then walk up to the car park to commence the parade. Children will be brought back to the clubhouse afterwards where there will be ceol agus craic for all the family. If everyone could bring sandwiches or buns/cakes etc., we would be very grateful. All kids are asked to wear their Harps colours for the parade. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
Church-gate collection: Thanks so much to everyone who supported our church-gate collection last weekend. GRMA to everyone who volunteered their time or made a donation.
Arch Club: We are hosting Monaghan Arch Club this evening (Thursday, March 14) from 8pm to 10pm. Please show your support and help make it a special evening for all. Any buns or sandwiches would be much appreciated for refreshments. Thanks as always.
League start dates: The Intermediate Football League is due to start on Sunday, April 14. The Reserve Football Leagues get underway this weekend. The proposed start dates for juvenile/minor leagues are as follows: U-18: April 2; U-16: March 28 & U-14: March 16.
Benefit night: A benefit night is being held in the Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday week, March 23, to raise funds to support Monaghan Town man Seamus Soraghan. All funds will go towards assisting his mobility needs. Seamus, or Jazz as many know him, has always been a great supporter of the club. We have no doubt this event will be well supported by the Monaghan Harps community.
After-school programme: We have passed the halfway point of our five-week After-school Gaelic Football coaching programme at St. Mary's Boys' National School, in partnership with Monaghan GAA. Thanks to everyone involved in getting this initiative up and running, including our own coaching committee and Monaghan GAA Coaching and Games.
County: Good luck to Kevin Loughran, Daragh Croarkin and the Monaghan senior football team in Saturday's Allianz NFL game v Tyrone in Omagh, to Emma Clerkin and the county ladies v Tipperary and to the county hurling teams in action this weekend. Please note that tickets must be purchased in advance for all National League games. Best wishes also to Gary Devlin, Jake McConnon, Seán Callan, Luke McManus, Michael McMorrow, Oisín Reilly and the Monaghan U-20s as they begin their championship campaign next Wednesday.
Referees: As previously highlighted, the shortage of referees in the county is at breaking point and unless new refs are recruited, our games and competitions will unfortunately suffer. We are looking for past players, current players, coaches, parents and supporters to get involved and become a referee by signing up for the foundation course, which takes place on Monday week, March 25. See our social media for more details.
Green Club: Our Green Club committee had a busy Saturday, planting over 150 native trees around Gavan Duffy Park. Added to the 380 natives & over 20 apple trees planted on club grounds last year, that's almost 600 trees. Massive thanks to all volunteers for driving this initiative. The club are also planning a spring clean of our facilities on Saturday week, March 23. All help would be appreciated.
Registration: Thanks to everyone who has renewed their membership for 2024 so far: your continued support is appreciated. GRMA to our new registrar Claire Ní Dhufaigh for her efforts. It is essential that all players at each grade are registered ASAP. Míle buíochas.
Stress Control: As part of the Healthy Ireland initiative the HSE are running a free six-week stress control programme, which commenced online last week. If you are interested, please log onto www.stresscontrol.ie to view the first session.
Camps: Ever thought about becoming a Coach at Monaghan GAA Easter Camps or Kellogg's Ireland Cúl Camps? See our social media for more information.
Hurling: Well done to the Hurling Club for organising a visit from Kilkenny's Martin Fogarty on Monday. Club Chairman Brian Beano Clerkin introduced Martin, who shared his expert views on all aspects of good hurling in an entertaining and easy to understand fashion. Martin was the first ever GAA National Hurling Development Manager.
Club app: As well as offering an option to support our lotto, our new club app also has a function to pay your annual membership, make financial donations to the club, as well as a communication suite for all that goes on at the club. You can get involved by downloading 'ClubZap' on your phone and registering as a Monaghan Harps GAA Club member.
