It involved a number of celebrities competing against each other as a Gaelic football team coach. The title derived from the Irish word for manager: bainisteoir[ˈbˠanʲəʃtʲoːɾʲ].
The series ran successfully for five years. It was axed in 2013 and replaced with Ireland's Fittest Family.
Description
In the series, eight non-sporting Irish 'celebrities' (see references) [5][6] take the place of Gaelic Athletic Associationbainisteoirí and compete against one another as the managers of intermediate-level Gaelic football teams. Each contestant managed a club from his or her home county.[4] According to an RTÉ executive: 'Celebrity Bainisteoir is a refreshingly Irish take on reality television. Clashing the local passions of grass-roots GAA with the very different worlds of our eight celebrity team leaders, it looks like there'll be drama both on and off the pitch.'[4] As described by one of the producers of the programme:
"Celebrity Bainisteoir is about showcasing and celebrating the passion, skill and commitment of grassroots GAA, but we're having a bit fun with it by throwing celebrities into the mix. At its heart it's a uniquely Irish family entertainment programme. For the clubs it's a rare chance to showcase club football to a national audience in an entertainment programme, while for the celebrities it's a chance to learn a brand new skill."[4]
The eight bainisteoirí and the teams they managed in the 2008 series are:
Baz Ashmawy, television presenter from shows such as How Low Can You Go? and (after Celebrity Bainisteoir) Fáilte Towers, managed Ballymanus from Wicklow. The Irish Times reported him managing his team while wearing 'nicely polished footwear'[5]
Nell McCafferty, journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist, managed St Mary's Faughanvale from Derry. At one point she said she asked herself 'what it would be like to work exclusively with men,' and said it was 'so far, extremely difficult'[5]
The contestants were each assigned an experienced mentor to assist them in training and managing their respective teams, but were responsible for team training and tactics.[4] Glenda Gilson recounted her experiences as being extremely difficult, making her cry on the first day. She said 'I wasn't able for it at all and felt I was like a schoolgirl on a street corner trying to be cool in front of boys' and called the experience the most difficult of her life.[3]
Tournament
The games featured in Celebrity Bainisteoir programme were officially sanctioned by the GAA[3] and consisted of four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and the final. The competitive athletic aspect of the programme was taken seriously by club supporters.[9] For a semi-final encounter with the Mayo team, for example, supporters from Cork urged their fellow Corkonians to attend by rallying 'People of Cork, your city and your county need your support again...If you care about Cork, You'll be there.'[10]
The final tournament was a 'thrilling encounter'[11] played at Parnell Park in Donnycarney, Dublin on Friday 16 May in front of over four thousand spectators. Of this final competition, one source praised "the much-anticipated meeting marked the conclusion of a tournament that captured the public imagination by combining the raw passion of the GAA grassroots with the glamorous world of celebrity."[11] The captain for Maryland on the day was David Martin. The Maryland GAA team from Westmeath, under the direction of their replacement bainisteoir Marty Whelan, triumphed over the Mayfield GAA from Cork by 8 points the team that were led by Gerald Kean. Maryland then went on to win the Westmeath Intermediate Championship in 2008.[11]
Christmas Challenge
Broadcast on 28 December 2008, this special edition sees Marty Whelan's winning Maryland team from the first series take on Patrick Kielty's London champions Tír Chonaill Gaels.
Tír Chonaill Gaels won this game 1–06 to Maryland's 0-07.
