North Antrim GAA have lined up a star-studded team for next weekend’s ‘Let’s Talk’ night in Dunloy Parish Centre. Jimmy Gaston and his team have assmbled three of GAA’s biggest stars with Tyrone football legend Peter Canavan, Rossa and Antrim Camogie legend Jane Adams joined by former Tipperary All Star goalkeeper and current Antrim manager Darren Gleeson.

Coming at the start of the county championships in all three codes, and at the end of the National Leagues there will be lots questions to ask the three guests, and with Shane Elliott on the mic the craic should be good. Things get underway at 8pm

At the launch of the Croistai’s Heroes GAA jersey we spoke to Leona Connolly who told us about her son.

“My son Croistái is the youngest of four and the only boy! He was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2013 at age 5. DMD is a serious muscle wasting condition that effects every muscle in the body including heart lungs and brain there is currently no cure and very limited treatments for this condition! It is life limiting and life expectancy is late teens early 20! To learn this about your precious child is absolutely devastating as you can imagine! Over the last nine years we have watched Criostái deteriorate he lost the ability to walk at 9 years old and slowly his upper body has gotten significantly weaker. He is a full time wheelchair user now and dependent on us for all his needs! The last few years have been tough for us as a family to watch his struggle with small tasks even brushing his teeth or using his remote control was heartbreaking! We had searched relentlessly for years for a treatment or something that could possibly help him and after 9 years we have found a treatment that can!!

In August last year, totally by accident, we saw another family on Facebook and their son has the same condition and was receiving treatment in America, so I contacted them and couldn’t believe they could help us! They are the Pentony family in Newry and they had set up a charity for their son Alfie “Fight for Alfie” they told us about the treatment and how much improvement their son had made. So we decided it was something we had to do for Croistai! The treatment is administered every 12 weeks in the U.S and costs approximately £12,000 every trip! We have taken our son twice now and the results have been amazing!! His strength has improved by 45% and is responding very well to the treatment! This is working and is giving our son a real fighting chance. We are trying to raise £50,000 so we can continue his treatment for the next year in the hope that something becomes more readily available closer to home! He is now 14 years old and is the most amazing wee boy, he has a wicked sense of humour and loves life!

Please help us save our boy!“

Croistai has a strong GAA pedigree. He is the son of Art Connolly who was an outstanding juvenile hurler with Loughgiel Shamrocks. Art’s dad Arthur Connolly was a key figure in the great Loughgiel team of the 1960s.

On his mother’s side Croistai’s great grandfather is Robbie Elliott, who is a legend in his home club Ballycastle. Still sharp as a tack in his 91^st year Robbie played for the Town from the late 40s up until 1975 when he was full forward on the team that beat Sarsfields in the final in Waterfoot. In 1954 he played on a Rest of Ireland team who played the Combined Universities in what was a forerunner to the All Stars.

We would ask all readers of the Saffron Gael and all GAA fans in the county to get behind this worthy cause to help Croistai continue his treatment.

GoFundMe, Life changing treatment for Criostái

https://gofund.me/f008b699

Tir na nÓg held their first awards dinner in more than two years when they gathered together in the Tullyglass Hotel on Saturday night. Covid had put paid to such events for a long time now but thankfully they are up and running again. Few clubs would have had so much to celebrate over that period as the Randalstown outfit who won the Intermediate Hurling Championship in 2020, the Intermediate Football Championship and Division 2 League in 2021, while the Camogs won League and Championship honours in ’20. Guests of honour was former Kilkenny great Richie Power and his wife Mairead. Power, who won eight All Ireland Senior, two All Ireland Minor and two All Ireland Under 21 medals in a career which ended prematurely at just 29, made the journey north at the request of Emmet Martin of Martin Hurls.