Celebrity Bainisteoir

The raw passion of the GAA grassroots collides with the glamorous world of celebrity as Celebrity Bainisteoir kicks off tonight on RTÉ One. Eight non-sporting Irish personalities are thrown in at the deep end as they manage an intermediate club football team from their home county in an official GAA tournament and we find out what happens when the true sporting passion of GAA club football meets the glitzy world of Irish celebrity. Gerald Kean, Glenda Gilson, Baz Ashmawy, Nell McCafferty, Ivan Yates, Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, Jon Kenny and Mary O'Rourke take on the challenge. The first programme in the eight-part series sees the bainisteoirí find out who they will be drawn against and there are shocks and surprises for the teams as they meet their bainisteoirí for the first time.

Tonight's programme sees solicitor Gerald Kean's Mayfield GAA from Cork take on model Glenda Gilson's Crumlin GAA from Dublin in the first quarter-final of the Celebrity Bainisteoir tournament. Gerald Kean and Glenda Gilson take up training with the Mayfield and Crumlin GAA clubs. They are overseen by their mentors, Cork All-Ireland winner, Dave Barry and former Dublin manager Tommy Lyons. Along with getting to grips with the intensity and pace of team training sessions, Glenda takes her team to a dance class and on a special night out to the Meteor Awards. On the eve of the match they make the long journey to Cork together as they prepare to take on Gerald's Mayfield team. Gerald has deployed the help of some of his sporting friends including Shay Given and Gordon Strachan to prepare his team for their quarter final match. He puts them up in a 5-star resort on the eve of the match and manages to attract a home crowd of 4,000 people for the all-important fixture.

In tonight's programme Jon Kenny and Nell McCafferty take over their teams in Galtee Gaels and St. Mary's Faughanvale respectively. They are overseen by their mentors, John Ryan, a former Limerick selector and Brian McEniff, who managed the Donegal team to All-Ireland victory in 1992. Jon records a special team song with his team as they prepare for the match while Nell forges a bond with the Faughanvale lads as they make the long journey to Limerick for their first match which reaches a nail-biting conclusion in extra time.

This week sees Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain's Kiltimagh from Mayo hosting Ivan Yates' Taghmon-Camross from Wexford in the third quarter-final of Celebrity Bainisteoir. Mentor Billy Dodd is on hand to give Ivan much-needed advice, while Liam McHale gives Aoibhinn a helping hand as each celebrity bainisteoir takes over the reins at their respective clubs. Following both teams through a gruelling training programme and culminating in an epic match, tonight's episode of Celebrity Bainisteoir will make for unmissable viewing.

Tonight's programme sees travel presenter Baz Ashmawy's Ballymanus GAA from Wicklow take on politician Mary O'Rourke's Maryland GAA from Westmeath in the fourth and last quarter-final of the Celebrity Bainisteoir tournament. As the two bainisteoirí take over their teams it becomes clear that their approaches to the competition are radically different. An enthusiastic and well-researched Baz takes over at Ballymanus to the delight of the Wicklow men and of Wicklow mentor, All Star and Irish International Kevin O'Brien. Meanwhile in Westmeath, Mary O'Rourke is decidedly less excited about the prospect of taking over the Maryland team. Her first training session with Maryland and the Westmeath mentor Dessie Dolan does little to win her any fans on the team. And after a less than promising start things go from bad to worse when Mary drops a bombshell. With training for the tournament well under way, Mary announces her surprise decision to pull out of the competition, leaving her team in limbo. A welcome replacement is found in the shape of broadcaster Marty Whelan, whose mother hails from Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath. Marty's enthusiasm and optimism give Maryland a much needed boost and the game is on again. Now both teams have their bainisteoirí in place, training efforts redouble and both teams focus on the prize of a semi-final place. With both Ballymanus and Maryland determined to win for parish, for community and for county, tonight's Celebrity Bainisteoir quarter-final is a nailbiting epic and unmissable viewing.

Tonight's programme sees the first semi-final of the tournament with Gerald Kean's Mayfield at home in Cork to Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain's Kiltimagh from Mayo. Fresh from their wins in their quarter finals, Mayfield and Kiltimagh bask in the knowledge that they have made it through to the next round of the competition. But neither team can rest on its laurels for long. With the semi-final looming, training gets under way in both camps as they prepare to face off in a crunch match for a place in the Celebrity Bainisteoir final. In Cork, Gerald's delight in the win is shortlived when he reviews the quarter-final match with mentor Dave Barry. Dave knows that the performance could have been better and that Mayfield have a lot of work to do. Training restarts in earnest when Dave invites All-Star and Cork player Niall Cahalane to take a session with Mayfield. Gerald arranges a training session at Pairc Ui Ring with Cork players James Masters and Donncha O'Connor and a special yoga class for the team. In Mayo, a review of their quarter-final shows Aoibhinn and the team that they too will have to put the work in if they want to triumph over their Cork rivals. Mentor Liam McHale reckons that Aoibhinn has come a long way as a Bainisteoir and has rightly earned the respect of her team. All-Ireland winning manager John O'Mahoney comes in for a session with the team and they train with the four-times All-Ireland winning Mayo Ladies team as well as getting in some pilates training to prepare for the big day. As match day approaches Kiltimagh are determined to put Gerald Kean in his place, but the Mayfield Bainisteoir won't be going down without a fight. Tune in to find out what happens when Mayfield take on Kiltimagh in a thrilling semi-final encounter.

Tonight's programme brings us within touching distance of the Celebrity Bainisteoir final as Nell McCafferty's Faughanvale from Derry take on Marty Whelan's Maryland from Westmeath in the second semi-final of the tournament. For one team there will be a coveted place in the final, where they will meet Gerald Kean's Mayfield, while for the other the bitter disappointment of defeat. Faughanvale and Maryland have made it through tough quarter final encounters and both teams are on a high following their victories. The celebrations don't last long as training begins again in earnest and both bainisteoiri review their teams' quarter-final performances. In Derry, Nell McCafferty and mentor Brian McEniffe realise that they have a lot to do if they want to get to the final. The training steps up a gear as Derry football and hurling legend Tony Scullion takes a session with the team. Nell realises that fitness levels will be crucial in the crunch match and arranges a session at the University of Ulster Sports Science clinic. In Westmeath, Marty Whelan is also reviewing Maryland's performance with mentor Dessie Dolan and it's clear that there's room for improvement. They bring in former Offaly manager Brendan Lowney to work with the team and Marty arranges a Tai Chi session for the players. With Faughanvale at home to Maryland the people of Greysteele pull out all the stops to welcome their visitors. On match day there's a carnival atmosphere in the village, which is decked out with bunting. The local pub has been freshly painted for the occasion and even the local dogs are dressed in Faughanvale colours. But as the two teams take to the pitch, Faughanvale are determined to send their visitors home in defeat, while Maryland have no intention of handing their gracious hosts a victory. With both teams totally focussed on a place in the final, tonight's match is going to be an epic battle. Tune in to find out who will emerge victorious...

Gerald Kean v Marty Whelan in epic showdown Last night's Celebrity Bainisteoir final saw Marty Whelan's Maryland from Westmeath emerge victorious over Gerald Kean's Mayfield from Cork. The hugely popular RTÉ Television tournament culminated in a thrilling encounter played in Parnell Park on Friday 16th May in front of a crowd of more than 4000 spectators. 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. The match and all the behind-the-scenes action were broadcast in the final programme of the hit series on Sunday 18th May on RTÉ One at 6.30pm. Eight non-sporting celebrities started the tournament and took on the challenge of managing an intermediate club football team from their home county in the official GAA competition. For each Bainisteoir and their team, months of training in hail, rain, sleet and snow would all come down to one crunch match with everything on line in this knockout tournament. The first quarter final, between solicitor Gerald Kean's Mayfield and model Glenda Gilson's Crumlin, saw Kean emerge victorious. The second quarter-final in Limerick pitted comedian Jon Kenny's Galtee Gaels against journalist Nell McCafferty's Faughanvale, with McCafferty going through to the semi-finals. The third quarter final between bookmaker Ivan Yates' Taghmon-Camross and former Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin's Kiltimagh saw the Mayo men snatch victory in the dying seconds of the match. The fourth quarter-final brought added drama when Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath Mary O'Rourke T.D. pulled out of the competition unexpectedly, leaving her team Maryland without a manager. Broadcaster Marty Whelan ably stepped into the breach and brought his team to meet How Low Can You Go TV presenter Baz Ashmawy's Ballymanus, with Whelan winning that encounter to book a semi-final place.