History
The community games were set up in 1968 - initially only in Dublin as a way to deal with the problems of the lack of leisure-time activities for young people. In the first games, 3,000 took part at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Santry; the following year it was 5,000 - today, over 500,000 children compete for the chance to make the national finals. For most of the games history, the National Finals were held in Mosney, County Meath. However, as the former campsite became unavailable due to being turned into a residential area for asylum seekers, from 2009 onwards the Games are held at AIT in Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
Read more about this topic: Community Games
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of the genesis or the old mythology repeats itself in the experience of every child. He too is a demon or god thrown into a particular chaos, where he strives ever to lead things from disorder into order.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)