eir hurling ambassadors, from left, Eoghan O'Donnell, Dublin; Declan Hannon, Limerick; Shane Kingston, Cork; and Conor Whelan, Galway; pictured at the launch of the eir GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship in Croke Park Stadium ahead of the 2024 season kick off. Bringing the ‘eir for all’ commitment to life, eir announced an exclusive opportunity for its subscribers to sign-up for the GAAGO Season Pass at a reduced rate of €59, representing a saving of over 25%. This will provide exclusive access to livestream 38 All-Ireland Hurling and Football Championship matches between now and the end of the season. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
eir, Ireland’s leading telecommunications provider, is calling on GAA clubs across the country to take part in the ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa Challenge to be in with a chance to win up to €5,000 for their club and the chance to play on the hallowed turf of Croke Park on All Ireland Semi-Final Day.
Building on the success of last year's inaugural competition, the competition forms part of eir’s continued sponsorship of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship, celebrating the speed and skill of modern hurling. The Poc Tapa challenge is inspired by the age-old “Poc Fada” competition and has been reimagined to reflect the speed of the modern hurling championship.
The competition is based on the quickest team of up to six people to pass a sliotar around the four corners of a pitch. The team that gets the ball back to base in the fastest time will win the competition.
Elite GAA players Declan Hanon, Limerick, Shane Kingston, Cork, Eoghan O’Donnell, Dublin, and Conor Whelan, Galway, were on hand to film an explainer video in Croke Park to show participants how it’s done which can be found HERE.
This competition is open to every GAA club in Ireland, and is designed for all ages, in any venue from local clubs to the national stadium. To enter the ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa challenge, teams must film a video of their fastest time captured from the centre of a pitch, with the stopwatch used held in frame at the beginning and end of the clip. The video must be uploaded to either Twitter (@eir) or Instagram (@eir.ireland) using the hashtags #eirforall and #PocTapa.
The fastest team in the country will win €5,000 for their club, and a chance to play in Croke Park on All-Ireland Semi-final Day. There are also many other great prizes on offer for participating clubs.
Last year, Tara Rocks GAA Club in Co. Wexford won with an impressive time of 33 seconds while St. Peregrines from Dublin were the runners up in a time of 36 seconds. Wexford also secured the title of the fastest county overall, showcasing the talent and speed of its hurling community.
Commenting on the launch of this year’s ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa Challenge, Managing Director of Consumer and Small Business at eir, Susan Brady said: "We're excited to announce the second year of the 'eir for all' Poc Tapa Challenge, building on the momentum of last year's competition. As Ireland's leading telecommunications provider and a proud partner of the GAA, eir is committed to connecting communities and uplifting local clubs across the nation. This year, we're focusing on enhancing connectivity experiences with our state-of-the-art gigabit fibre network, reflecting the rapid pace of hurling with unparalleled broadband speeds. We invite all GAA clubs to join this thrilling competition and show that speed dominates, both in the game of hurling and in internet connectivity."
eir has been a proud partner of the GAA since 2011 and is now in the second of its five-year official sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
eir’s 5G network has transformed how fans interact with the game, offering unprecedented connectivity speeds. eir’s partnership with the GAA, highlights the synergies that exist between hurling, the world's fastest field sport, and eir, which is committed to providing full fibre superfast broadband to over 1.9 million homes and businesses across Ireland. The Poc Tapa challenge is designed to inspire GAA clubs across Ireland to demonstrate that the fastest wins in both hurling and the provision of superfast broadband.
You can keep up to date with eir’s sponsorship of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship by following @eir.ireland on Instagram, @eir on Twitter on Facebook at www.facebook.com/eir and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/eir.