Assemblyman Mickey Kearns, partnered with the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library System, and the University at Buffalo Libraries welcomed the 2017 Continental Youth Championships Gaelic Games to Buffalo at a reception displaying UB’s collection of renowned Irish author James Joyce. U.B’s Joyce exhibit is the largest collection of Joyce’s work in the world. During this reception, Assemblyman Kearns, joined by American-Irish Legislators president, Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D- Staten Island) and secretary, Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick (R- Smithtown), presented the Continental Youth Championships Gaelic Games Host Committee chair Paul Mulcaire with a donation from the Irish- American Legislators for $2000 as a sponsor of the Gaelic Games.
Assemblyman Kearns was a member of a coalition that traveled to Ireland in 2014 to promote Buffalo, during the selection process for the host city. During this time, Kearns met with the President of the Gaelic Athletic Association, Ireland’s largest sports association, promoting the games featured this week, Irish Football, Hurling and Camogie.
The CYC Gaelic Games is an annual tournament of Gaelic Football and Hurling, the national sports of Ireland. The games bring in athletes from age groups Under 8 through Under 18. Each year the tournament welcomes about 3,000 athletes to compete from up to 250 teams. The Continental Youth Championships is the largest youth Gaelic Games to be held outside of Ireland, brining an expected 20,000 guests to the greater Buffalo-Niagara region.