Community Games mark Mary’s golden milestone

When people talk about volunteerism they normally complain about the lack of volunteers in our everyday lives when in fact there are some brilliant and trustworthy people who give of themselves and seek nothing in return.

To be a good volunteer you need a skillset to deal with and communicate with people's needs and understandings in a world where the pace of life is ever increasing. For the past 50 years Mary McGreal from Westport has enjoyed her role in volunteering with Mayo Community Games. Mary has given her time freely to organisations, charities, community groups and made a vital connection in whatever role she was involved with.

Her time with Community Games in Westport was indeed an honour as she developed her area to in one particular year, compete in 19 different disciplines. At that stage Mary can recall Mayo Community Games having a total of 48 affiliated areas. This was only achieved by the wonderful volunteers at local level and a vibrant county executive. Various clubs and organisations allowed their facilities and grounds to be used over the years and thankfully, this has continued to the present day.

As Mary states in her own words it would be dangerous to mention everybody for the fear of leaving somebody out but she thinks Jim Ryan must be acknowledged for the use of the Claremorris track over many decades. She has very fond memories of the late Martin Keane too, a dear friend who was affectionately known as Mr Community Games.

The county finals in earlier years were held over two days but is now condensed into one long day. Mary has filled many executive roles in the Mayo Community Games set up such as athletics secretary, which involved a huge paper trail involving entries for every single child and all their details before the modern day computer took over. The events at the county finals ran like clockwork thanks to a group of dedicated area volunteers who carried out their tasks with precision.

For many years Mary was the voice of Community Games in Claremorris and she was heard loud and far on the public address system which sounded out from once you entered the grounds of the track. Everybody was kept in check and nothing went wrong when Mary was behind the microphone.

Mary McGreal gained great inspiration from the late Joe Connolly, founder of Community Games of which he became General Secretary. Hundreds of thousands of children owe a deep debt of gratitude to Joe for his enormous contribution to their development and youthful enjoyment in the games.

In 1973, 500,000 children from around the country competed to qualify for the national finals. Almost 2,400 finalists competed in what became known as the ‘Mini Olympics’ at Mosney. This practice continued in Mosney for the next 35 years. Mary recalls Joe Connolly being employed as a CIE clerk by occupation and had the wisdom and knowledge how to organise special trains from most corners of the country to travel to Mosney and pick up the various county competitors and volunteers on route. All the counties involved were kitted out in their county tracksuits. The Community Games organisation was one of the few in the country that catered for the 32 counties . The display of the coloured tracksuits was a sight to behold in those times and especially to a new sporting organisation that was catering for the youngest generation of our children when there was very little else on offer.

On a personal level, Mary was privileged to have known Joe, his wife Vera and their daughter Joyce all of whom were involved in Community Games.

The games operates at four levels – Area, County, Provincial and National – and caters for children who range in age from under 6 to 16 years in an annual programme which has over 50 events in over 28 different sport and cultural activities. Its main aim is to encourage and foster community spirit and a love of sport and culture. Community Games is built on incredible volunteers who make all the events possible; it’s the likes of parents, guardians, mentors, teachers and volunteers who are the integral cog in the wheel.

It is also not just about competitions and winning but about building lasting friendships, memories and experiences that all involved will carry with them for life. Mary McGreal was heavily involved and was honoured to have worked in the PR section at the national finals and one of the jobs assigned to her was organising the seating on the viewing stand at the opening and closing ceremonies and welcoming the many invited dignitaries, like the Taoiseach of the day, the President, government ministers, TDs, county councillors, county council managers. There opening and closing ceremonies included a parade of all the counties in their full tracksuits in their county colours with county banners and flags and marching in county numerical order as each county was assigned a number at the beginning of each year.

Mayo Community Games have been truly rewarded by having one of the best ambassadors any county could ask for over the past 50 years. In late 2024, a function was arranged in Westport – unbeknownst to Mary McGreal – to recognise her incredible service to Community Games. She was eventually encouraged to attend a gathering for a cuppa and a chat among a few close friends. Little did Mary know that when she arrived at her destination that there was an ambush of friends awaiting her arrival. The cheers and the clapping that greeted Mary was fit for a queen. The gathering included founding members of Mayo Community Games, the current county executive, the national chairman Gerry McGuinness, former county chairpersons, secretaries and county executives members, close colleagues, former Westport Community Games officers and three generations of Mary's family.

All concerned had kept the secret that Mary McGreal was being honoured for her outstanding work as a volunteer on the ground for a half century. Several speeches followed and everybody present heard about the commitment and dedication of an outstanding volunteer who kept the Community Games organisation running in her town, county, region and at national level like a well-oiled machine. Mary was presented with a beautiful Genesis sculpture, a bouquet of flowers and a retirement cake. Mary McGreal thanked all concerned and said she was so humbled to think that all present had gathered from all corners of Mayo for her. During her speech Mary stated that she could not have done anything in life without the full support of her family.

As a result of being involved in Community Games Mary has made lifelong friends in every county in the country. She saluted all the wonderful volunteers and none more so than the people down the years who kept Mayo Community Games to the forefront on the local, county, provincial and national stage and who continue to be involved. Before leaving the rostrum Mary wished the organisation the best of luck going forward.

Community Games will live on as we wish Mary the best of luck in her new journey in life. Thank you for your professionalism, knowledge and enthusiasm which was always a valuable asset to all who served with you. New opportunities will lie ahead and we wish Mary McGreal good health and prosperity in the next chapter of her life.