Ballybay Club Notes

There was no winner of last weeks Ballybay Pearse Brothers Blotto. Number drawn were as follows: 9, 22, 24 & 31

The following people won €20:

Theresa Connolly, Lower Main St, Ballybay

Sam (Fergal) Smyth, Ballybay

Gene Garaghan, Ballybay

Bridie Murphy, Dunraymond.

Celine Laverty, Castleblayney

Next weeks jackpot is €4,900

The club AGM was held on Sunday last in the club house. There was a massive turn out from previous years again highlighting the high spirits the club is in following on from our recent league final victory and the atmosphere created by our monster raffle. Once the annual reports from the various sub-committees were concluded, it come to the most exciting part of the night, the election of officers. Existing chairperson informed the attended that she would be vacating her role as the head of the club, to which Ann received a round of applause for the work she over saw. Nomination forms where consulted with Cillian McAviney coming across as a strong candidate who was very quickly proposed and secondary. Following in his fathers’ footsteps as chair of the club, he looked the part at the top table. Niall Duffy was nominated and seconded to assist Cillian in his role, while the Connolly siblings of John & Aoife will continue to look after the clubs’ secretary roles for the 2017 season. Paddy Kerr will remain as club treasurer once again assisted by Barry Lennon. The PRO position remained vacant for now & Paul McCabe was nominated and accepted the role of club register. There was them some very exciting additions to the committee. Genna Gilmour will be the clubs new Youth Officer, Evan Rutledge will remain as Coaching Officer, Bryan McCabe will head up the Health & Well-Being, Paul Finlay will act as players representative while the committee members for the year ahead are John Joe McKearney, Martin McAviney, Eileen Kerr, Drew Wylie, Ann Garraghan, Cauldine Wylie & Donal O’Connell. All those in attendance congratulated the new committee and where delighted with the mixture of youth & experience involved for the season ahead. I’m sure all club members will take this opportunity to congratulate Cillian wish him all the best for the year ahead, support him in any way he may require and that 2017 is as successful both on & off the field as 2016 was.

On Friday evening past, the club had the great satisfaction of handing over a cheque to our monster raffle winner Kathleen Feeney. Kathleen was over the moon with her win & we’re only delighted to bring such happiness to a family as Christmas approaches. Oliver Brennan & family members was also presented with his second-place prize of a flat screen TV. Again, the look of delight on the faces made the efforts all worthwhile. Also, in both photos where ticket seller Paddy Gilmore & Brendan Walsh. Unfortunately, third and fourth places winners Dermot McArdle & Anna McCarthy where not available on the night but their prizes have been delivered. A special mention to John Rutledge for taking the photos off the entire event and to all who helped the club in selling, buying & running the raffle.

On Saturday afternoon in the Recreation Centre in Ballybay the Bank of Ireland Ballybay Enterprise Town will take place from 2pm to 5.30pm. There is a wonderful day planned in the centre headed by guest of honour Minister Heather Humphrey’s TD, with special guest

appearance from Rachel Allen, a special welcoming to Paul Finlay Ballybay Pearse Brothers club captain & Owen Ward along with special presentations to various groups from around the town including The Ballybay Pearse Brothers and fun for all the family. It’d be great to see as many members attend as possible and keep an eye on the social media sites for additional info.

Retirement: Happy retirement from the intercounty game to our very own Paul Finlay. There’s not much that I can write about this man that hasn’t already been said. Everyone associated with the club and the greater GAA community knows the quality of player Paul is, the dedication he puts into his game, the personal scarifies he gave up to fulfil his dreams, his drive, his communication skills, the list goes on and on. The fact that he has finished with a personal record breaking tally of 5-544 in 168 appearance (including 151 points in 48 senior championship games) over his 14-year playing career, will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever seen him in a pair of football boots. Upon retiring, Paul has an amazing role of honours including three National Football League divisional title, Inter-provisional and Sigerson cup success, represented Ballybay & Monaghan at international level, All-Ireland success with Monaghan Vocational schools in 2001, and of course not forgetting the Anglo Celt victories in 2013 and 2015. All this goes on top of his club honours with the only cup he hasn’t lifted from minor to senior is the Intermediate league, having the minor league & championship double, the junior double, the intermediate league & following this years’ success the senior double. The club are delighted to have the huge privilege of calling Paul its son and over the moon the hear he’ll be in the maroon & white for many many many years to come. As I’m sure every geal throughout the country will agree, we wont see the likes of Paul again. Happy retirement Paul you deserve it & thanks for all the amazing memories.

The Owen Ward final DVD is currently available for the prize of €15 per copy. Please contact Eileen Kerr or Niall via the facebook page if you’d like to get your special Prease Brothers support the ideal Christmas present from the 2016 season.

Monster Bingo takes place on Sunday the 4th of December from 3pm in the Four Season Hotel. It’s a massive event with over €2,000 of prizes to be won on the day.