Football

Return of McAleer & Rushe as Tyrone sponsors a good fit says county chairman

(L-R) McAleer & Rushe Chief Executive Eamonn Lavery, Tyrone GAA Chairperson Michael Kerr and McAleer & Rushe Chairperson Seamus McAleer present the new Tyrone GAA jersey with Players (L-R) Padraig Hampsey, Cormac Devlin, Kieran McGeary and Conor Grogan
(L-R) McAleer & Rushe Chief Executive Eamonn Lavery, Tyrone GAA Chairperson Michael Kerr and McAleer & Rushe Chairperson Seamus McAleer present the new Tyrone GAA jersey with Players (L-R) Padraig Hampsey, Cormac Devlin, Kieran McGeary and Conor G (L-R) McAleer & Rushe Chief Executive Eamonn Lavery, Tyrone GAA Chairperson Michael Kerr and McAleer & Rushe Chairperson Seamus McAleer present the new Tyrone GAA jersey with Players (L-R) Padraig Hampsey, Cormac Devlin, Kieran McGeary and Conor Grogan

A FAMILIAR logo will be emblazoned on the front of Tyrone shirts this year with the second coming of former sponsor McAleer & Rushe.

The Cookstown-based construction firm was revealed as mains sponsor for the county’s football and hurling teams.

McAleer & Rushe, which previously backed the Red Hands for a three-year term from 2015 to 2017, succeeds Tyrone Fabrication, whose four-year association has come to an end.

The returning sponsor has agreed a two-year deal, with the option of a two-year extension, with the county board.

The initial McAleer & Rushe sponsorship proved to be a successful one, during which Tyrone won two Ulster senior titles, All-Irelands at U21 and U17 level as well as Division Two of the National League.

“We’re just delighted to welcome one of Tyrone and Ireland’s finest businesses, Tyrone’s own McAleer & Rushe, back on board as our Tyrone GAA title sponsors,” said county chairman Michael Kerr at the headquarters of the firm in Cookstown, where the launch took place.

McAleer & Rushe Chairman Seamus McAleer and Group Chief Executive Eamonn Laverty said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Tyrone GAA again. Our experience of being sponsor in the past was very positive, and in ways we did not fully expect or appreciate at the time, and we look forward to developing our partnership with Tyrone GAA for at least the next two years.

“We warmly wish all players and management of all codes the very best of luck for the incoming season and are only delighted to be a part of the next chapter after the heights of 2021.”

The county chairman added: “Good sponsorship is of course not just about the money. It’s also about the style, the brand, the advice and the complementarities a sponsor can bring with them. That’s the real value that ‘proper fit’ sponsorship can bring.

“Of course we need to be very clear too that it’s not just a one-way arrangement, but that we too have major obligations to meet.

“Sponsors are now very important to us across the GAA, and we’ve been blessed in Tyrone with a whole sequence of great title sponsors. I thank them all, and particularly our immediate past sponsors Tyrone Fabrication who helped us to such great success in their time with us.”

The Tyrone chair credited McAleer & Rushe, one of the market leaders in construction and property development, with making a huge contribution to the local economy and providing employment at a scale which stemmed the flow of emigration.

“The jobs they have created here, the emigration of our brightest-and-best they have stemmed, the knowledge and skills bases they have developed, the sub-contracting businesses they have fostered, the wealth they have created and the pride, self-esteem and confidence they have generated for our whole community have been just priceless.”

“We can’t and won’t forget that.”

“Over a half-century McAleer & Rushe and its people have been consistently in, of and for the GAA.

“There is no ‘us and them’ involved here.

“This is a business where the GAA thread is very strong. And they run it not just across Tyrone but also into Derry, Armagh and many other counties.”