Amid the controversial cancellation of a summer sports camp in Co Down, Irish cricket’s ruling body has invited East Belfast GAA to an ‘alternative’ event
By John Manley, Politics Correspondent
July 16, 2025 at 3:17pm BST
Children from East Belfast GAA have been invited to take part in an “alternative sports camp” hosted by Irish cricket’s ruling body.
The invitation to a forthcoming camp at Stormont cricket ground came as the chair of Cricket Ireland said he was “dismayed and disappointed” by the events that led to the cancellation of a youth sports camp in Co Down.
Cricket Ireland has also pledged to continue engagement with the GAA and other sports governing bodies “for the benefit of all”.
Friday’s camp at North Down Cricket Club in Comber was called off after a statement from the local Orange lodge claimed some residents were opposed to the involvement of children from the East Belfast GAA club.
The cricket club had planned to invite 10 different sports clubs and community groups, including organisations supporting ethnic minorities, to take part in the camp, which was aimed at 6-16-year-olds.
Cricket Ireland chair Brian MacNeice said North Down had been “at the forefront of youth development in recent times”.
“Participation in multiple sports by young people has been recognised as having considerable benefits both in sporting terms and mental wellbeing – it can only be to the detriment of the children concerned that this cancellation has occurred,” he said.
“Cricket is a sport for all and both CI (Cricket Ireland and NCU (Northern Cricket Union, the representative body in the north) actively encourage diversity, inclusion and equality in our game. Working with other sports in the sharing of facilities and the creation of opportunities for young people is a key aspect of this strategy.”
Mr MacNiece said Irish cricket’s governing body “applaud North Down Cricket Club’s initiative in planning the sports camp”.
“We are committed to following through on the initiative and Cricket Ireland and the Northern Cricket Union are making plans to run a similar sports camp at Stormont,” he said.
“We have therefore approached East Belfast GAA and offered an opportunity to participate in this alternative sports camp which will also include other sports clubs. We look forward to further engagement with the GAA, and other governing bodies, for the benefit of all.”
The Cricket Ireland chair called for “all community leaders to show leadership and actively support this initiative”.
“Sport can bring communities together and we must all act in partnership to ensure this is the case,” he said.
by pickneyboy3000
20 comments
good on them. never let the bigots win.
It is down ordinary decent people within the PUL community in NI only to show that all forms of sectarianism is unacceptable. Well done CI.
The orange order have shown their true colours here
Shame on them and those who support them
Great to see. Good on ya, CI and NCU. And NDCC too.
More of this, please.
Sadly there are bigots on both sides
Fair play, great to see. Let Comber be the loyalist run shithole it wants to be.
This is very welcome.
So the reason why the orginal place was burnt down was due gaa kids coming to join in?
Not a big Cricket fan, but this is good from Cricket Ireland. Kids from different backgrounds being blocked from sport by thugs is disgraceful. I feel sorry for the Cricket club who would have been threatened with their club house being vandalised by thugs within their own community.
You convince no one with hate and thuggishness.
[I DON’T LIKE CRICKET OH NO](https://youtu.be/fUNTk5xsxk4?si=sLkp2xcpu_UJ_Zz3)
I actually fucking hate it, but this is class.
Lovely to see – fuck those dickheads in Comber
(There are lots of lovely people in Comber as well)
Fair play 👍
Are their visas in order?
Brilliant news!! This is what we need in NI. F**k the hostility and harking back to lone gone days. We all need to join together, move forward and these initiatives make a huuuge difference.
Classy move. Who knows, maybe they’ll discover the next Brian Lara, Shane Warne or Freddy Flintoff.
That’s the 3 cricket players I know of lol.
Well done to the Cricket community
Well done Cricket Ireland
Good news, hopefully they get plenty of kids taking part.
The fact that unionist politicians and the OO have refused interviews today says a lot. This lodge and those in the Comber area who have instigated this opposition have showed themselves to be sectarian, bigoted idiots. Long may they show the world who they are.
I wonder would unionists consider the Scottish game of shinty as offensive if it was played here? It is a British sport but has it’s origins with the Gaels of highland Scotland. I remember seeing the Scotland team play Ireland in Croke Park.
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