17 Jan 2022

Steps Challenge...
With only 48 hours left until the start of our 5 week challenge we have an incredible 124 people signed up for our Steps Challenge which goes live Wednesday morning. Every step you do counts! If you do not have a fitness watch, do not worry!  You can track your daily walks / runs / activity on your phone through Apps such as "Map My Run" or "Map my Walk" or indeed Strava to name a few. You can also log your activity manually on the app! Visit the FAQ below to help with any queries. 

Ireland Lights Up Group...
I have received a lot of interest to date for our walking group on Wednesday evenings, we are meeting in Eire Og on the astro turf at 18:45. Please wear club colours if possible, we have a limited number of hi-vis jackets so if you have one please wear it. Please email eireoginishealthofficer@yahoo.com or text Noreen on 087-6449781 if you wish to join us on Wednesday evening. 

Can I re-emphasise that these initiatives are not only for club members so feel free to spread the word!!

Ireland Lights Up recommends that each participant has in place their own personal Insurance covers when participating in Ireland Lights Up. We will have a sign-in sheet on Wednesday evening, by signing it  all participants accept they are participating at their own risk. All Participants and walk leaders irrespective of membership status are not covered by the GAA Injury Benefit Fund.

Please note that photographs and videos taken while you are participating in Ireland Lights Up may be used by RTÉ and/or the GAA in the promotion of Ireland Lights Up. 

Looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday evening. 

Noreen :)

7 Jan 2022

*Please see updates on the Step Challenge and Éire Óg walking/jogging/running group from club Healthy Officer, Noreen Vaughan:

Due to Covid and the recent high numbers Irish Life has pushed the starting date back a week and will now begin on January 19th until February 23rd. 

We currently have over 50 people registered. If you have not registered to date please do so as soon as possible so you are set up and ready to begin for January 19th. The more people we have participating the more steps we record and closer we become to achieving our target!

As mentioned in my previous email we are also running the Ireland Lights Up initiative in conjunction with Operation Transformation. We will be starting this on Wednesday January 19th also. We are asking the community to meet in the Astro Turf at Éire Óg at 18.45 on the 19th January. We will begin with a small warmup and then with a 3k walk. We aim to increase the distance slightly every week. The route will be explained to everyone on the night. You are welcome to run, jog or walk. 

This is very much a community event and as such all members and non members are welcome to attend and most importantly there is no requirement for any level of fitness!!! The main aim of the initiative is to get out in the fresh air, have a chat and enjoy it while also promoting our club. We would be very grateful if you could wear the club colours on the walks.

If you are interested in taking part in the group walk could you send an email to: eireoginishealthofficer@yahoo.com or send a message to me on 0876449781.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on January 19th at 18:45!

Noreen Vaughan

5 Jan 2022

Hi all,
A very happy, healthy and prosperous new year to you all. 
Following on from our hugely successful steps challenge in 2021 where we came a very impressive 2nd in Munster and received €1000 for our efforts we have decided to try this challenge once again. We would love to see as many people get involved as possible and try and go one step further this year! 

We have added the club to the Irish Life/GAA Every Step Counts Challenge and encourage all members to take part. This challenge runs from Jan 12 2022 to Feb 16 2022-with the goal for clubs to collectively walk 4000km's. The steps are tracked through the Irish Life app, which is free to download and use-(the Irish Life app can also be linked to Fitbits etc). While users of the Irish Life app must be aged 18 and over, we would really love to see all the family getting involved and start the New Year off on the right track.

Please keep up to date with current Government Covid-19 regulations while undertaking activities. Remember also physical distancing, respiratory etiquette & guidelines on restricted movements/self-isolation if symptomatic, or awaiting Covid test or results.

Download the app now to get ready to take part in the challenge, steps will be counted towards the 4k target starting from January 12th:

How to start: 
Download the Irish Life app for android or iPhone and register your personal details
To join the club team, click the 'Social' tab in the profile area of the Irish Life app
Tap 'Challenges', then 'Pending'
Tap 'Munster GAA', then scroll to Éire Óg (nb: you may need to scroll to end of the list)
The challenge should now show on the 'Accepted' tab of your Challenges

Link to Fitbit etc
You can link to your Fitbit or other tracking wearable or app during registration on the My Life app
If you want to link after registration, tap the cog on the top right of the app to see Settings
Tap 'My Life Support', then 'Tracking Devices/Apps'
Follow the instructions on screen to link

See poster and frequently asked questions from Irish Life below, if you have any queries be sure and get back to me. 

Running concurrently with the steps challenge this year is the GAA's popular "Ireland Lights Up" walking initiative in partnership with RTE's Operation Transformation and Get Ireland Walking. Ireland Lights Up encourages GAA clubs across the 32 counties to encourage their local communities to come together to walk and talk in a safe environment during the dark evenings of Winter. As ever, Operation Transformation (which returns to our screen on Wednesday January 5th) will shine a light on this great initiative by showcasing each week on the show GAA clubs that are participating in Ireland Lights Up. There will be more details to follow on this in the coming days.

For the moment all you need to do is sign up on the Irish Life App for the steps challenge in Munster and under Éire Óg, tell family and friends the same and be ready to start recording those steps from January 12th!

Happy walking!