* We have all been shocked and saddened to learn of the death in Australia of Ryan Doyle from our neighbouring club the Liatroim Fontenoy’s. To the Doyle Family, Liatroim and all Ryan’s friends we offer you our deepest sympathy at this sad and difficult time. In order to assist in taking Ryan’s remains home Castlewellan GAC will hold a Breakfast Morning in the Club on Saturday 1st December from 10am to 12pm. Everyone in the local community and beyond are very welcome to come along. All proceeds will be donated to a fund which is managed through the Liatroim Club. Please come along and support this worthy cause.
* In the County Scor na nóg Final on Sunday evening the Castlewellan Instrumental Group capped a remarkable rise in fortunes by becoming county champions at a packed Abbey Grammar in Newry. Having been runners up in the East Down Final they knuckled down to the task of improving themselves. They entertained the crowd and impressed the judges with two tunes, Joe Cooley’s Jig and The Rookery. They have now played their way to the Ulster semi-final which takes place in Saval next Saturday evening starting at 7pm. Congratulations to Niamh Howell, concertina, Miadhachlughain O Donnell, flute, Ciara Maguire, fiddle, Niamh Bloomer, fiddle, and Ruairi Howell, pipes. All your hard work in practice has paid off. Well done! They will now represent their county in competition with Derry and Antrim. These youngsters deserve all our support. This is a talented group of young people representing our Club. Good luck to you all in the Ulster Semi-Final!
* The Annual General Meeting of St Malachys GAC Castlewellan will take place this Thursday night 29 November 2012 at 8.00pm in The Social Club. We encourage all members to attend the meeting. It is our most important meeting of the year. It is your opportunity to voice your opinion on how the club is being run and to have a say in who will be elected to the positions on the Executive Committee for the next 12 months. It is also a chance for you to review the work of the previous year, review the various different reports and to get your view on club policy, revise or endorse and make submissions through motions to the County Committee on framing policy and dealing with the rules of the Association. A large turnout is encouraged.
* You have all seen it – you know the advertisements on TV where the Soaps are pushing their top story lines. One line in particular which is peculiar to one of the main dramas is “everyone’s talking about it” We have been building up to it for weeks. Yes Castlewellan Come Dancing finally kicked off on Saturday night and oh what a night! In the shops and on the street everyone has been commenting positively of the opening night. The night was a fanfare of expectation. No-one was disappointed. It is impossible to capture all the great performances fully in this column as all the couples performed out of their skins. The glamour & the glitz, boy meets girl, boys wants to be a girl! The fantastic knowledgeable audience gave the dancers great encouragement and support. There was and has been tremendous effort and commitment by all the dancers. Well done to Sinead McCartan & Niall Mc Ardle, Anna Scott & Michael Hawkins, Caoimhe Kelly & Rory Burns on reaching the final. Commiserations to Helena Cairns & Paddy Docherty and Marcella Brogan & Seamus Owens who didn’t make the final. Thank you to last week’s judges Benny Coulter, Josephine Brennan-King, Gemma Blayney and our own Ciaran Crilly. They entertained us all with their comments and wit which gave great integrity to the competition. All the dancers deserve the credit. Next Saturday night will see the second semi-final take place. It will be a night for revenge to be served. A strange thing for dancing you might think. Many years ago a certain Gregory McCartan lined out for Down against Kerry. Gregory (or Fred Astaire as he now likes to be known) came up against a recent Kerry debutant and in football terms gave his shoulder an awful hard time. That player was none other than next week’s guest judge Darragh Ó Sé. Darragh as we all know is the six time All-Ireland medal winner with Kerry. I can just imagine the opening line from the legend that is Darragh Ó Sé. As he rubs his shoulder he will say “I still remember that match in 1994 Gregory!” Gulp! Oh Gregory you’ll have to dance really well. As in last week’s show entry to the event is ticket only. We need to stress again that the show will start at 8.00pm sharp and the seating arrangements are first come first served so get there early to get a good seat. Doors open at 7.00pm.
* The Winter Fun Coaching continues on Monday evenings. The numbers that are there are encouraging. Again we encourage and welcome as many parents as possible help with the coaching. The programme will continue on Monday evenings. Please feel free to still come along and join in. The times are as follows; P1 to P4 6.00pm to 7.00pm and P5 to P7 7.00pm to 8.00pm.
* Another reminder to all ticket sellers please ensure that all monies are collected in advance of the last of our 500 Club Draws on Saturday 22nd December 2012.
* The numbers in this week’s lotto were 6, 12 13, 18. There were no jackpot winners and five £20 winners, Paul Duffin, Colm Crilly, Pauline Brady, Michael Sloan & S Rodgers. Jackpot next week is £2650.
* Castlewellan AC athletes are running on a Tuesday & Thursday night. They leave from the club at 7.00pm. It will not be long before the 2013 Spring Lake comes round so it is time to get in shape for it.
*When Big Paddy is not dazzling Saturday night audiences with his array of dance moves to Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” you will see him at the oche throwing darts for the Club. Well Paddy lead his charges to a 5-1 victory over league leaders Ballykinlar last weekend. Michael, he asked me to mention the only defeat (yours!). I said to Paddy “come off it Michael is never beaten” Paddy nodded his head “afraid so” he answered. Luke & Jason wanted me to mention it as well. At least you sacrificed yourself for the team!
