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Senior Camogie Player Paula Breen In Feature Article In The Evening Herald - Wed, 20 May 2009

The Evening Herald on Tuesday featured an article on Senior Camogie Player Paula Bruen

PAULA BRUEN works in Croke Park. She'd love to play there. It could happen. Paula is on the Dublin junior squad. Back in 2005, the Dublin Juniors drew with Clare at HQ in the All-Ireland Junior Final. In the bright sunshine at the Hill end, Niamh Taylor's late point rescued the Dubs, who won the replay, and retained the title the following year. Peter Lucey was the leader of that expedition. Peter is now back in the big time with the Dublin seniors.

This is Paula's first season with the Dublin Juniors. They are preparing for their opening Championship match in Down on June 20. They are out-running the deer at their training base in the Phoenix Park. It's a convenient location for Paula, who plays for St Brigid's. She's a commanding centre half-back. She was a Brigid's Belle. She loves the club. She's hoping that the wheel of fortune might be a bit kinder this year though. For the last two seasons, Brigid's were beaten in the Senior B Championship Final, on each occasion by a point.

Heartbreak Hotel wasn't in it. "Maybe this could be our year," she smiles. Nobody would begrudge them, except all the clubs that make up a very competitive Senior B department. "It's a very tough grade. There are so many good teams there. And a lot of teams are around the same," says Paula. Among them are Portobello. Croke Park's Camogie Chief, Sinead O'Connor, plays for them. Brigid's met the Ports a couple of weeks ago. It was a draw. "I think that was the best result for me because of starting my new job here," quips Paula. Sinead is Paula's boss. Paula is only two weeks into her role as Camogie's Finance Administrator.

She is settling in nicely. And she particularly likes the view. "It's a lovely place to work and I'm really enjoying it. "Everybody has been very welcoming here. We have a busy schedule. It's interesting because there's something different every week. I think camogie is a good vehicle for sponsorship. Its profile is rising all the time," comments Paula. And she adds that there are excellent opportunities for companies to get involved with the sport at national or local level. Yet no matter what the day brings, she has plenty to discuss with Sinead over the coffee. The Senior B League is a double-round, so there'll be another meeting to look forward to.

Brigid's have a good management unit, and the vast majority of last season's squad are still there. Training is going well. "The all-weather pitch in the club has made a big difference to our training," says Paula. The Championship will throw-in next August. "We lost a couple of League matches. It's early days yet and we can pick it up again." And Paula would like to see the business community pick up the phone and join the Camogie Crusade. That's exactly what Arnold O'Byrne did one day when he was passing a ringing phone at the Opel office. It was the FAI. The rest is history. Even Gaybo was driving around in an Opel Vectra. Give the Camogie office a tinkle on 8364619. It could be the start of an adventure.

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