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AS THE 2017 GAA All-Ireland Senior Championships enter the final stages, Guinness has launched its latest TV advertising campaign, 'Behind Every Great Town' featuring life-long Castlegregory GAA club volunteer Maurice Spillane. The captivating 30’’ film celebrates the everyday GAA volunteers, who willingly give their time in communities across Ireland all year round.

The advertisement features Maurice Spillane and three other real GAA volunteers from Inishbofin, Co Galway, Slaughtneil, Co Derry, and Ongar, Dublin 15. Together, they represent the thousands of people throughout the Island of Ireland who find enrichment, enjoyment and a sense of community by immersing themselves in their local GAA club.

At 12 noon today, 4 x 20 second films featuring each of the four GAA volunteers including Maurice Spillane will go live on the Guinness Facebook Page and the Guinness Europe YouTube Channel. In Maurice’s film, he tells, in his own words, his personal volunteer story to the backdrop of various landmarks in the Castlegregory area such as Kelly’s Height, Maunsell’s Garage, The Pearse Memorial Hall and of course Páirc An Cáisleán, Castlegregory’s beautifully scenic GAA pitch.

Maurice Spillane has been helping as a volunteer with Castlegregory GAA Club for 50 years. He took on the role of Chairman of Castlegregory GAA Club at the age of 23 and has been helping out ever since. Maurice has also helped to run the GAA Lotto, was senior player registrar and his block-building skills can be seen all over the re-developed Castlegregory GAA grounds, which was re-opened in 2003.

Speaking about his passion for the GAA, Maurice said: “The GAA was a social outlet for me as a young adult. I was quite shy growing up and the GAA helped me in a way to get the shyness out of me. I remember it was 1970, I was 23 years of age and I was asked to go to a GAA meeting in the old Pearse Memorial Hall in Castlegregory village. Things were bad with emigration at the time. It was the AGM and there were only five or six people at it. Somebody said to me, "Maurice, will you do chairman?". Up to then, I had never been involved in any type of administration, but I said ‘OK’ and I’ve been knee deep it the club ever since.”
Commenting on the ad, Guinness brand manager Chloé McEvoy said: “Our ad celebrates the people like Maurice whose selfless efforts and dedication to their local clubs enhances the towns and communities they live in, as well as making the GAA the vibrant, progressive and inclusive organisation that it is today. Driven by a sense of pride and belonging, these volunteers truly are the life and soul of the GAA.”

In the 30-second TV advert, it opens on a beautiful aerial view of Maurice driving through the countryside from his home outside Castlegregory to the club grounds to mow the field with his ride-on mower, a job he has done on many occasions through the years.

The viewer is then transported to Galway’s Inishbofin, where Islander, Simon Murray, and those before him have a dedication and conviction to succeed, having seen the people leave their neighbouring island Inishark in 1960. Although the island does not have a club team that regularly plays on the island, their GAA pitch is a physical symbol of their identity.

From there, we see a glimpse into the world of Wendy McEldowney and other volunteers from Slaughtneil, Co Derry, one of Ireland’s most remarkable GAA communities. Only founded in 1953, the Robert Emmets GAA club is the epicentre of community life and has helped to unite and grow the parish. The film ends with Moses Wanjigo, originally from Kenya, who came to live in Ireland in 2010. Responding to an advertisement from the Erin Go Bragh GAA Club who was looking new members to join, Moses was welcomed by the club with open arms and he quickly found a way to integrate into the local community.

‘Behind Every Great Town’ was created by communications agency, Wilson Hartnell, together with well-known Irish director Brian Durnin and production company Red Rage Films.

You can view all four vignettes here

Wendy
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WbC1_KAsApI

Simon
https://www.youtube.com/embed/7gOomDgtnDY

Maurice
https://www.youtube.com/embed/3Jj-BR9WnQs

Moses
https://www.youtube.com/embed/MoCeZ8ixc0U