By Paul Fitzpatrick
GAA President Aogán O Fearghail took time out of his busy schedule to officially open the new 40x20 handball court at Ballyconnell Community Centre, Co Cavan on Monday evening last.
“I’m very pleased to be back in Ballyconnell, my first event as GAA President was in Ballyconnell and it’s fitting that the word ‘first’ is still there – the first GAA club in Ulster, that will never be taken away from you," he said, referring to the local Kildallan GAA Club which is the oldest in the province.
“I’m glad that handball is now very much central to activities here. The GAA menu has to be always broad. There are a lot of guys who might not want to play football but they could play hurling or handball, and the same goes for girls and for rounders and Scór. It’s nice to have the variety.
“Cavan has a lot of things going for it that we sometimes don’t recognise and handball is a very special game and is very strong here.
The best handballer ever, Paul Brady, is a Cavan man. “Girls and boys when they play sports are always dreaming, always looking for an idol, and there is none better than Paul Brady, who won five world handball titles in a row against professional athletes. “Paul has done wonderful things for Cavan – there are a lot of good things happening in Cavan and I’m delighted that you’re now part of that with this fabulous handball alley.”
Susan McVitty of Ballyconnell Development Association also spoke and thanked the President for attending. Treasurer of Cavan handball committee Padraig Cahill, who took part in an exhibition match in the new court, thanked all those involved for their hard work. “I want to especially thank Bernard McManus, Liam Sheridan and Peter McDwyer, who are keen followers of handball and put in a lot of voluntary effort to help get this facility in top shape,” said Cahill. “This is a great boost for the sport, we now have a strong presence in west Cavan and we already have some great players down here like Cian McManus and Cathal Sheridan, so the future looks very bright for handball in the town.”
Caption: Aogán O Fearghail and Chief Executive of Cavan County Council Tommy Ryan team up to take on brothers James and David O’Reilly at the opening of the new handball court in Ballyconnell. Pic: Adrian Donohoe