DUBLIN CAMOGIE STAR Laura Twomey says shes’s excited to meet the Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge before taking part in the London St Patrick’s Day parade.

Dublin camogie star Laura Twomey. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Through her work with the 20×20 movement, Twomey has been invited to participate in the parade this year under a theme surrounding women in sport.

Twomey, who will meet William and Kate later this evening, says she’s thrilled to be heading over to the English capital in two weeks to play a role in the promotion of the 20×20 campaign.

“Jesus it’s mad,” she says, beaming about the parade that will start in Piccadilly Circus on the big day.

You never think you’re going to meet the future King of England. But it’s great. It’s fantastic for 20×20 and Irish sport just to be getting that recognition. 

“Every year in the UK, the parade has a theme. And this year, the theme is women in sport. They’ve invited 20×20 over to lead the parade around.

“Kate and William are over this evening and a couple of us are going over to meet them in the Guinness Storehouse. I think I’ll have one or two minutes with them.”

The 20×20 campaign aims to increase the visibility of women in sport by 20% across the areas of attendance, participation and media coverage in Ireland this year.

Several positive impacts have derived from the movement so far, including record-breaking attendances in the camogie and Ladies football All-Ireland finals.

Twomey says a similar campaign took place across the water in recent years, while everyone at home is wishing her well for the parade on 17 March.

“The UK ran a campaign a couple of years ago called ‘This Girl Can’ and I know Kate Middleton is very supportive so hopefully I’ll get to speak to her.

Mam’s up the walls. My little sister was like ‘can you ask Kate how she gets her hair so glossy?’

“There’s strict instructions on the invite for formal dress. I have to bring ID.”

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after arriving in Ireland. PA PA

Dublin have suffered two defeats in the opening rounds of their Division 1 campaign, but they can draw plenty of encouragement from their performances.

They came up just three points short against reigning All-Ireland champions Galway at the weekend, while Tipperary got the better of the them last month.

The Dubs have a new training base in Abbotstown this year, while Cuala duo John Treacy and Willie Braine have taken over as the new management team.

“The lads have been great,” says Twomey who feels Dublin are making positive strides as their season progresses, “they’ve brought a great environment to the whole thing.

“And I think people are really comfortable in that environment that they’ve created so I think there’s a really good atmosphere at the moment.

“We’re in a good place now with a solid foundation behind us. We had a disappointing campaign last year, didn’t get out of the group. It was our first year not making knock-out stages since 2014 so be looking to bridge that.”

Kinetica Sports Nutrition has announced that it is the official sports nutrition partner to Dublin GAA which came into effect on 1 January 2020. The sponsorship extends across both football and hurling for senior men and under 20’s and football and camogie for senior women and U20 teams.

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