A football match taking place in Mullingar tonight, Friday August 26, is set to highlight some good news about the town.
Alan Devaney who founded the Dalton Park initiative says tonight’s match at Gainstown between Dalton Park and Grange u15s is a sign of success, despite all the doom and gloom in the economy and elsewhere.
Devaney, who grew up in Dalton Park is bursting with pride for the 30 young people who turn up every Thursday night to train with the FAI.
And he’s delighted with the support the FAI have given, with Leroy Rhodes and Paul Osan offering their services every week for free to the teenagers who will also be presented with free FAI kit this evening.
And they’ve provided medals for each team. This means a lot to the youngsters, says Devaney.
“A lot of them come from hard backgrounds and when they’re training, they can leave their stress outside the gate,” he says of the project that has snowballed since it was set up a year ago.
He also has high praise for the gardai who are sponsoring tonight’s cup.
He says policing was different in his day, but the involvement of community gardai in estates in Mullingar is making a huge difference.
One of the reasons he asked Superintendent John Gantly to present the cup to tonight’s winning team is “to show him how good his men are”.
“The youngsters can be wild, but his men understand that. They’re not out cycling bikes and driving cars as if they don’t give a damn. They really care,” he says and adds that this really helps in getting the message through about anti-social behaviour.
He’s also honoured with the recognition given by Mullingar Town FC, who recently gave him a key to their grounds.
Devaney has high praise also for his opponents in tonight’s match and is looking forward to Grange and Dalton Park meeting on the football pitch.
“Everything is starting to progress,” he says of the two estates. “Tonight’s event shows there’s a lot of goodness there.”
Sgt Tony Quinn, who heads up Mullingar’s Community Policing unit says his officers have been impressed with the talent they’ve seen from both sides and are delighted with the way everyone is working together.
“Gardai are hoping that supporters will attend and that this will be the first of many matches,” he adds.
He’s impressed with the work done by Alan Devaney at Dalton Park and by Catherine McEntee and Kevin McKnight among others in Grange.
Paddy McCaul, President of the FAI and Minister of State Willie Penrose will also be in attendance at the match and there is no admission fee. The event kicks off at 6pm.
