Blood, sweat, and tears (of laughter mainly ). Who’d have thought it, two same party town councillors, bare chested and pumped up in a boxing ring going hell for leather.
No it wasn’t a Dáil debate, or even a Mayo County Council meeting, but you could be forgiven for thinking so. And it wasn’t an episode of the Frontline or Tonight with Vincent Browne either, although both these shows could do with a boxing ring and referee on some occasions.
It was Castlebar town councillors Ger Deere and Brendan Henaghan taking one for charity, namely the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association. All I was afraid of was that Cllr Henaghan would actually give Cllr Deere ‘one’ and it would have been lights out. Thankfully what Cllr Deere lacked in stature in comparison to his bigger opponent he made up for in deftness, and the health shop owner couldn’t land that killer punch.
The venue (The TF Royal Theatre ) was perfect, the atmosphere electric and the build up fights full of passion and vigour.
Thirteen bouts took place where the novice boxers, who had been training since January, finally put into action the skills they learned from the trusted folk of St Anne’s Boxing Club, Westport.
But the highlight from a spectators’ point of view had to be witnessing these two Fine Gaelers, barechested, blood coursing through veins, moving (sorry dancing ) to the beat of the DJ’s tunes. So close they were matched in boxing prowess, they could only be separated by a dance off which was judged by the enthusiastic audience. Hillarious from start to finish. I can’t actually remember who won, not that it mattered because the cause was greater than the torture these two men put themselves through in aid of charity.
It was heart warming and encouraging. Fun and entertaining. All the night was missing was a clash of the leaders although a would-be Biffo did try to lure Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny into drawing fists. Unfortunately Deputy Kenny was not going to be duped (although many in attendance thought the leader would pull on some boxing gloves and have a go ). But he retained his composure, although he did allude to his disappointment at P Flynn pulling out at the last minute. Now that would have been a battle to behold.
Fair play to Marian Irwin and friends who spent months organising this white collar boxing event in memory of Marian’s late husband Peter, Elaine O’Leary, and all the other people who have died from this awful and debilitating illness for which there is no cure.
Money is still pouring in and it is hoped funds raised will go towards paying for a specialist nurse in the west region. Currently the IMNDA only have one nurse specialist covering the whole country.
Life expectancy for a motor neurone disease sufferer varies from three years to five, or occasionally longer, and during that time the association functions as a support organisation for sufferers, their families and carers.
And while we were rocking in the aisles of the Royal Theatre last Friday night in fits of laughter, the human stories behind this fantastic fundraiser are sobering. Motor neurone disease sufferers like all people living with fatal diseases, bear their illnesses with great courage and dignity and Friday night was an excellent opportunity to be reminded to be thankful for all the little things we take for granted.
