The past two St Patrick's Days have been good catalysts for GAA activity in Brussels and Europe.

In 1999, we pioneered the introduction of under-age GAA to the Continent and our young boys and girls went on to play football all Summer and Autumn including performing for GAA President Joe McDonagh in Luxembourg last May and playing here against a Dublin Primary Schools selection in July. Our adults also got in on the act playing in Tournaments, staging our own and being founder members of the Euro GAA Board at the Marriott Hotel in Amsterdam in November as per our catch-cry "from Hayes' Hotel to the Marriott, 115 short years !").

The impetus came from former Dublin Club Robert Emmet's stalwart, Patricia Hickey, who works in the Irish Embassy here. Patricia really enjoyed the February 2000 visit of the Sam Maguire Cup, brought to Brussels by Meath's Tommy Dowd and Enda McManus and their wives to help us promote the GAA here. No sooner had The Sam gone home than Patricia gathered together 17 of her sports-playing girlfriends and coached them in the playing of Gaelic football for the next few Thursday nights. Their first public appearance was at our Brussels GAA event on Sunday 19 March and their 9-a-side game proved to be a great success with both players and spectators.

Patricia's panel can justifiably be described as an "International Brigade". Only 3 were Irish, the majority was Belgian and there were also players from Canada, Denmark, Peru and Sweden. Like our under-age players last year, all but one or two of them had never played Gaelic football before but - again, like the kids - picked it up quickly and are now eager to continue playing this "cool, new game" through the Summer. Indeed, they are already making plans to rope in even more Belgian girls to enter a Europe Team in the International Ladies GAA Tournament planned for September 2000 in Dublin - and win it too while they're at it !

Apart from the Ladies GAA, last weekend also saw us play hosts to 37 visiting players and officials of the Monaleen GAA Club in Castletroy, Limerick and the staging of:-

• a hurling exhibition played by the visitors for onlookers;

• a fast & competitive match between some 40 Brussels under-age players; and

• a closely fought Brussels-Monaleen mens' match which the visitors won 4--5 to 2--7.