The North County Man Behind The Lions The Newspaper with the
BIGGEST
circulation in the North County
Your Quality Local Newspaper We Deliver
Pictured is Gerard Carmody at the British & Irish Lions squad training at QBE Stadium, Auckland.
The attention of every rugby loving person in the country was focused on the British & Irish Lions in their final series deciding test against the All Blacks recently. However, not many will be aware that one of the key members of coach Warren Gatland’s backroom team was Swords man, Gerard Carmody, who now lives in Balbriggan. He was Director of Operations for the Lions and therefore one of the key figures who worked tirelessly to ensure the Lions
tour of New Zealand was a success. He was effectively head of the team behind the team, so to speak, the man ensuring the Lions slept soundly at night, and only had to worry about playing rugby. Carmody (43) who was born in Swords originally lived in Oaklands and Daleview estates and now lives in New Haven Bay estate in Balbriggan. He went to school at St Colmcille’s BNS and Fingal Community College, Swords. See full story on page 7
A registered newspaper at the G.P.O.
25th July 2017 • Volume 24, Issue 27 • Leader House, North Street, Swords, Co. Dublin. K67 P5W4. • Tel: 01 8•400•200 • info@northcountyleader.ie • www.northcountyleader.ie
Pen Friends Finally Meet After 50 Years Donabate lady, Alice Nimmo has had a lifetime’s ambition realised when she met her long time pen pal, Christine Hardisty for the first time recently. Christine who travelled all the way from New Zealand to meet Alice, was overjoyed when they came face to face for the first time. The ladies began writing to each other over 50 years ago and the two friends are so proud of their long range relationship. Alice, originally from Malaysia, is a retired occupational therapist, who came all the way from Malaysia to take part in an interview at Saint Joseph’s College of Occupational Therapy, in 1978. This coincided with the college opening it’s doors to one foreign student to attend and train to become an occupational therapist. Luckily for her she was successful and was up against two others, one from Finland and the other from America, but it was Alice who was
By Leslie Murphy chosen and has been living in Donabate for the past 39 years, with a loving family and friends around her. She told the County Leader, “When I was 12 and living in Malaysia, I wrote to a pen pal club looking for a pen friend. I had to tell them what my hobbies were and what my interests were. They gave me a name and address and I wrote the letter that would eventually put me in touch with Christine.” “After a period of time had elapsed, I eventually got a reply and it was from Christine. She told me that she had found my letter on her way to school and placed it on the school notice board. She then noticed that after a couple of weeks, the letter was still there and she took it and opened it. She read the letter and didn’t know who it was to go to, so used her initiative and
replied to me and we have been friends ever since.” A delighted Alice told the County Leader, “I am so happy to finally meet Christine; she has been such a great friend to me over the last 50 years and to finally meet each other is great, we shared so many memories, despite not meeting face to face. We have always sent each other birthday presents, cards and Christmas presents including a peacock feather. These days there are not many pen pals, as most interaction takes place on the internet and not the old fashioned way of writing and posting a letter off.” Christine who is a retired nurse said, “I was so excited coming to Ireland and to meet Alice, it was the most magical feeling when we met in Dublin Airport. We both knew each other instantly. We have been planning to meet over five years and now I must say the feeling for both of us was surreal,” she said.
Pictured in Donabate are Alice Nimmo and her long time Pen Pal, Christine Hardisty from New Zealand, both ladies where overjoyed when they came face to face after 50 years
Man Charged With Dermot’s Murder, As Community Grieves Last Friday, Anthony Walsh of no fixed abode, the 29 year old who was originally arrested and released in relation to the murder of Swords man, Dermot Byrne was re-arrested and charged with his murder. Last week, a vigil was held on North Street, Swords, at the spot where Dermot was tragically killed. Several hundred people attended the vigil, including members of many local community groups including his beloved St Colmcille’s GAA Club and Irish Blackball Association. Members of the various clubs all wore their jerseys and placed candles onto the steps of Fingal Community College to pay their tributes. There where bunches of flowers, framed photos of Dermot, his Ireland jersey and a few pints of beer placed at the steps. Both sides of North Street where lined with members of the community and
Last week a vigil was held on North Street, Swords, where local man Dermot Byrne, was tragically killed. Several hundred people attended the vigil where balloons were released into the sky as a mark of respect for Dermot
locals who knew the man and people who just wanted to show support.
The Garda had to divert the traffic as the crowd got so big and eventually there were yellow and blue
balloons released into the sky as a mark of respect for Dermot. A procession was formed by
Dermot’s three children and family members who where all linking and the crowd of supporters followed behind them. The procession was led by a Garda escort and the family and followers made their way from North Street, up through the Main Street, while the Gardaí had the traffic stopped. The procession made it’s way to Swords Garda Station, where a very emotional crowd cried and embraced each other. The atmosphere was so moving that grown men and children were moved to tears. Dermot’s daughter, Shauna and his brother both stood up on the wall of the Garda Station to address the crowd and they just thanked everybody for all the support and for showing up. They were both in tears, as were the crowd, who stayed for some time to show their support for the local man.