Report by Maria Gough
Pics by Bert Trowlen
Saturday 11th May must have been the hottest day we have experienced this year and the sun attracted families in great numbers to Corrigan Park. This was the day planned for the official opening of the new stand and terracing and the sun was definitely the icing on the cake.
To have old, young and everyone in between together in the state of the art facilities was a joy to behold. From their vantage point in the stand they looked out across the magnificent pitch which is constantly in a perfectly groomed state, thanks to our fellow clubman Niall McCallin. Every blade of grass seemed to be smiling as the national flag fluttered gently in a warm breeze to the sweet sound of The Glengormley School of Traditional Musicians.
Invited guests included our Ulster President Ciaran McLaughlin, local MP Paul Maskey, Belfast Lord Mayor Ryan Murphy, Patrick O’ Boyle from OB Construction along with our own John Rainey and Paddy Carlin the professionals who made this dream a reality. However, the very special guests on the day were undoubtly The Golden Eagles of Naomh Eoin. From the oldest at 94 to the youngest at 70, they occupied the white seats across the middle of the new stand.
Guest speaker Ciaran McLaughlin spoke of the impact of looking up and seeing the very senior members of the club in front of him and then to the extreme right the hundreds of young people all decked out in their blue and white. To him this illustrated that this was indeed a great family club where every single member is valued. Ciaran spoke so elequolently about the important role which Corrigan Park has played within Antrim, none more so than in the last decade when Casement Park has not been available. He highlighted too, the support of Ulster GAA in striving to get Casement Park built in Belfast, the second biggest city in Ireland. This was greeted with thunderous applause by every person present.
Very Reverend Ciaran Feeney completed the formalities with a beautiful blessing in which he remembered those members no longer with us who had built St. Johns over the years. Most of the gathering were hoping as he blessed the new stand that the Holy Spirit would float across the pitch beyond, to ensure that an Antrim Championship would be in the trophy cabinet by the close of 2024!
As the dignitaries lined up for an official photograph with Ciaran McLaughlin unveiling the new marble plaque, the Johnnies anthem ‘Whack Fol the Diddle’, was sang with gusto by the blue and white army of children and their families, clearly testing the acoustics within the stand.
David Robinson as MC with his expertise in this field, had done a great job moving the ceremony forward and in no time all the young people in their club colours were lining the route from the stand to the clubhouse for the guests to pass through. Frank Maskey our very own piper was on hand to lead the way, piping everyone to lunch where they were once again entertained by the exceptional talents of the young musicians from The Glengormley School of Traditional Music .
One little person in the line-up was overheard asking her mum as the guests walked by , ‘Who are all those old people, to which her mum replied, ‘they were once boys and girls like you playing for St. John’s and now that they are old we look after them in our club.’ What a beautiful comment!
Gerry McCann the new Club President was so very proud of everything which he had witnessed as he was one of the chief stalwarts in getting the new stand in place. What a legacy to leave for generations to come.
As the last notes of the piper floated towards Divis Mountain, a roar went up from the children as they left their lines and dashed onto the pitch for the fun to really begin for them.
Laura Bannon had gathered together her team of coaches and mentors including the Senior Football Manager Aaron Douglas, Jase Simpson, Paula McGivern, Eimhear Costello, Ross Hannigan, Joe Garland, Conor Adams, Ronan Donnelly, Niamh McArdle, Emma Donnelly, Sophie McMahon, Sinead McAleavey, Emma Park, Hannah, Kathryn Mallon, Eoin Rua Lambert and Matthew Mallon who had organised fun activities for the next few hours. Hundreds of children enjoyed races, 3 legged, sack, egg & spoon, relays, sprints and obstacles with the emphasis on fun. There was definitly more competition when it came to the tug-o-war challenges though.
Inside in the sports hall Orla Grew and Pauline Devine kept the Fundamentals group, toddles to age 4 occupied with a circus of activities appropriate to their age group. However, the activity which stole the show was the parachute. Whether the toddlers were above it shaking the huge material to knock objects into the air or under it hiding from each other they certainly all had fun.
The outdoor activities concluded with major competitions organised for the mums and dads with the emphasis on competition. This definitly put the fun in fun day as the adults took each other on in welly boot throwing, striking the bar with a hurling ball, egg & spoon and 3 legged races and of course tuga, tuga, WAR!!! as the accompanying photographs will illustrate. Fergal Collins with his running commentary added to the excitement as the children cheered and yelled for their parents to win and hurling legend Sean ‘Crossbar’ Morgan once again showed his brilliance when he took the title from the line-up of hurlers!
As the field cleared the ne-naw of the fire engine didn’t cause alarm as it was the final event of the fun day. Club fireman Kevin McGlinchey brought his colleagues along for the young boys and girls to not only get into the fire engine but soak their friends with the hose!!
As the evening sunshine continued to warm those gathered, the senior hurlers took to the field to extend their unbeaten league campaign as they lined out against Bally galget before everyone adjourned to the club house to be entertained by The Hairy Lemons .
It certainly was a most memorable day which will go down in the history of the club as opening new club stands does not occur very often!