Claremorris GAA help provide record-breaking number of cardiac screenings 

THE father of Dillon Quirke, a Tipperary hurler who died during a match at the age of 24, has urged parents to get their children cardiac screened. 

Quirke was speaking at Claremorris GAA Club, which helped screen a record-breaking number of children last week in association with the Claremorris South Responders Group and The Dillon Quirke Foundation. 

One-hundred-and-eighty-five boys and girls received cardiac screening at the Claremorris GAA clubhouse - the highest number ever screened in Ireland. 

Claremorris GAA and LGFA have over 500 members and between 50 and 60 coaches. 

The screening was conceived by Donna Cassidy, Chairperson of the Claremorris South Responders Group, who was heavily involved in its running and organisation. 

Claremorris GAA presented a cheque for €8,820 to The Dillon Quirke Foundation, which is campaigning to make cardiac screening mandatory for anyone wishing to play sport in Ireland. 

Mandatory cardiac screening has reduced the incidence of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) by 89 percent since being introduced in Italy. Approximately 100 young people in Ireland die from SADS every year, including the late Dillon Quirke, who collapsed while playing a hurling match in Semple Stadium on August 5, 2022. 

“Dillon was 6’2”, 13-and-a-half stone, in the top three in all fitness levels in Tipperary hurling and one minute he was there, the next minute he was gone,” his father Dan told a gathering at Claremorris GAA Club. 

“People say, ‘You must find his anniversary very difficult’. As a family, every day is an anniversary for us, since Dillon’s passing. To start the foundation, to help screen young boys and girls all over the country has been a huge solace towards the family.

“The work that Donna [Cassidy] has done has been incredible. We really have been so impressed with what you’re doing because it’s not just the GAA community here, as I can see in Claremorris, it’s the whole community. 

 _{Pictured are members of Claremorris & District Lions Club with (left to right) Mayo footballers Jack Coyne and Diarmuid O'Connor, James Preston (Treasurer), Melissa Walsh (President), Andy Bibby (Former President), former Mayo footballer Andy Moran and Paul Hunt(Claremorris GAA Chairman)}

“Sometimes you forget that when you play sport, everything revolves around your heart,” Quirke added. 

“And I think it’s very important that parents realise that, as we all know as parents, kids are playing so many different sports now, not just GAA, but soccer, rugby. The demand for kids,  it’s now much greater than it was ten, twelve or 15 years ago. 

“Club training now is what county training was ten years ago so as I said…people need to know, your kids need to be screened. Obviously you’ve done that here in Claremorris. I would ask you all to pass this message to different clubs, whether its the GAA club, soccer club or the rugby club, get the message out there, kids need to be screened. 

Launched earlier this year, the Dillon Quirke Foundation has been supported by Mayo ladies captain Saoirse Lally, who was diagnosed with a potentially fatal cardiac issue known as preexcitation syndrome thanks to cardiac screening. 

Donna Cassidy praised the foundation for their work in advocating for cardiac screening. 

“If something is showing up on the screening, we will refer them onto another foundation where the whole family will be screened - again, free of charge,” Cassidy told The Mayo News. 

“It’s absolutely a fantastic service and without Dillon Quirke Foundation it wouldn’t be possible.

Cassidy said she hoped other first responder groups in Mayo would organise cardiac screenings in cooperation with local GAA clubs. 

“They come in looking a bit worried but come out smiling, so that’s a good sign,” she explained when asked about the screening process. 

“It is so important to have kids screened, not just for the GAA; for hurling, tennis, camogie, LGFA. The foundation has stated that the girls seem to shy away from screening. In fairness, we had a lot of girls in here for the screening and it was fantastic to see the girls do the screening. It’s just so rewarding to see their families going out happy.”

Orla Brogan, who plays football with the Claremorris Minor girls team, described the screening procedure as ‘pretty simple and straightforward.’

“You go in and they hook you up to these cables and they get your heart rate and your heartbeat and all that, and then they print it out and then they go on to the doctor, and then she takes the blood pressure and goes through it with you. If you need more time, or if it needs to go further, then they’ll send it off somewhere else. It’s pretty fast and it’s easy to do,” she told The Mayo News. 

Padraig Cummins, a member of the Claremorris GAA senior team, said the passing of Dillon Quirke had heightened his awareness of cardiac issues in young people. 

“As a sportsperson, like anyone, it can happen to anyone. It doesn’t matter if you are the fittest person in the world, it can still happen to you, something like this,” Cummins told The Mayo News. 

You can find more about the Dillon Quirke Foundation on their website.