Liverpool visit - Well done Dunmanway

EVEN the sun endorsed the adventure by making a welcome reappearance over Dunmanway yesterday afternoon for the visit of one of the great clubs of world soccer.

Liverpool played a match that might have been more appropriately played in the Valley of Elah – where David defeated Goliath – rather than in West Cork. Liverpool did not suffer Goliath’s fate, but they came close enough, escaping by the narrowest of margins.

But, of course, yesterday was about much more than soccer. It was about a sense of community, of positive action and independence of thought. It started when local man David Hall made a phone call to Liverpool FC to extend the most unlikely of invitations.

That it was accepted and yesterday’s uplifting occasion proved that the qualities we so badly need today are still active in our society. They proved that communal vision matched with determined ambition can overcome almost any obstacle. A lesson for us all.