Two reminders: The final box office for the Rose Ball will take place at Cappucino’s at the Crowne Plaza on Monday, April 26 between 7.30 – 9.30. Don’t miss this chance to get your tickets!  The Ball itself is on Thursday. Click here for more details about the Rose!

The last few tickets for the Beach Party are also on sale: either every night at training from this coming Wednesday night (April 22nd) until Sunday, May 3rd, or at the Box Office at The Crowne Plaza Hotel from 7:00 – 9:00 pm on Monday, May 4th. Click for more details about the Beach Party!

Unfortunately, the Oman trip scheduled for the weekend of the 14th – 16th of May has had to be postponed for reasons beyond our control. 

I have been informed by Oman that they have scheduled their end of year ball for Thursday, May 14th so they will not be able to play football the day after.  

This leaves us with 2 options:

• Option A: Go ahead with the Oman Trip the following weekend, May 21st – 23rd.  The cost of the trip, based on last year, will be in or around AED 1000 per person.
• Option B: Invite Oman up here on the weekend of the 21st – 23rd of May; Hold a mini tournament on the Thursday night and invite Dubai down as well, and have a night out in The Crowne Plaza afterwards for all 3 teams.
• Organise our own weekend away, Sandy Beach in Fujairah has been mentioned, in early July for a getaway if people are that anxious for one last jolly before the end of the year.

Personally, at this stage of the year, I’d opt for option B. Saying that, however, I will go with the majority vote. So please, in the next 2/3 days, e-mail me back with your thoughts. Either way preparations will need to be made and I will need to get onto them asap.

As always my contact details are declan.madden@hct.ac.ae or 050 3236804.

Cheers,
Declan.

Way back in September Etihad ran a competition back home entitled “Best Club under the Sun” and  Portumna won the competition.

Their prize was a trip out here to Abu Dhabi to take part in a training camp being run by the one and only, the great man himself, Tipperary’s very own Nicky English (May God bless him and his family – all together now – amen).

They were due to come over in February but because of their involvement in The Club Championship at home (Portumna in fact won the final on St. Patrick’s Day) it had to be postponed until now.

So from April 24th to April 27th Portumna will be training, under the guiding hand of Nicky, out at Zayed Sports City from 4 pm – 6 pm each day.

If you wish to go out and watch any of the sessions you are more than welcome to head on down for a bird’s eye view.

Cheers,
Declan

Read more: Galway Independent

We are planning a trip down to Oman on the weekend of the 14th, 15th and 16th of May.

We are planning on flying down (if financially viable) on the night of the 14th and back to Abu Dhabi on the 16th. As of this moment I am still looking into the cost of flights and accommodation so I can’t give you an exact price just yet.

What I can tell you however, from past experiences, is that this trip normally costs in or around AED 900 per person. When I have further, exact details  re. price I will forward them onto you straight away.

If you are interested in travelling down can you please let me know asap. (050 3236804 or declan.madden@hct.ac.ae). The sooner I know numbers the sooner I can start negotiating deals with the travel agent and hotel in Oman.

Cheers,

Declan

Tickets for our upcoming Beach Party on Friday, May 8th at The Club are now available.

Tickets cost just AED 150.

• Tickets will be on sale every night at training from this coming Wednesday night (April 22nd) until Sunday, May 3rd.
• We will also be holding a Box Office night at The Crowne Plaza Hotel from 7:00 – 9:00 pm on Monday, May 4th.

A few important points that need to be noted regarding ticket sales: -

• The Beach Party is open to both members and non-members of Na Fianna and The Irish Society – all are welcome!!!
• Following our Box Office on May 4th, no further tickets will be sold for the party (this is because of new security/insurance stipulations in The Club), so please get your tickets early so that you don’t miss out on what has always been a fantastic night.

For any further information please contact Brid on 050 3224021 or Val on 050 1251682. You can download a flyer here.

Cheers, Declan

The Abu Dhabi Rose of Tralee selection dinner will take place in the Emirates Ballroom in the Crowne Plaza on Thursday April 30th.

Meet our gorgeouous gorgous goergeous gorjus beautiful, sophisticated and talented contestants and help us decide which one will represent us in Dubai’s official Rose of Tralee event in May.

More details soon

Due to popular demand we have decided to order our new jersey/strip for your own personal purchase!

The final date for placing an order with me will be May 7th. All jerseys and strips will be sold at cost price (details of exact costs will be forwarded on early next week).

Payment for jerseys/strips has to be made before the final order is placed. If you do not pay before May 7th your order will not be sent through.

The following information needs to be forwarded to me (declan.madden@hct.ac.ae) asap: -

• Whether you would like to order the jersey only or the full strip (jersey and shorts)
• Yor preferred size (small, medium, large, xlarge or xxlarge).
• How many jerseys or strips you would like to order.

There will be no training next week as some players are on holidays and we had these dates taken out of our contract with the school.

 Training will resume as normal on Sunday, April 12th.