Everest heroes on top of world at homecoming

FOR a man who has crested the world’s tallest peaks you would think Pat Falvey might have little trouble climbing onto a two-foot platform to wave to well-wishers.

But such was the crush of bodies, that the platform in question proved almost insurmountable yesterday as the dozen or so expected supporters at Cork Airport turned into a tumultuous crowd to greet their mountaineering heroes.

Straining to get near them, screaming fans packed the airport concourse as the Irish team that conquered Mount Everest arrived home after almost three months on the highest mountain on earth.

It was all a long way from the day eight years ago when the same Pat Falvey returned to his native city to be greeted by his parents and a handful of people after becoming the first Irishman to scale Everest.

“The interest is getting bigger all the time,” said the team leader as he tried to keep the autograph hunters happy.

Even before the climbers came from baggage control, hundreds of children were greeting each new arrival with a thunderous shout.

Bemused businessmen, tanned holidaymakers and even airport personnel were each treated to applause. When the team emerged into the public area, pupils from Cloghroe National School near Blarney let off a roar that could be heard on the far side of the Himalayas. It certainly had little trouble drowning out Lord Mayor Councillor John Kelleher.

But their most vocal welcome was for a tiny stuffed bear named Freddy, the team mascot whose worldwide adventures the children have been tracking on the web.

Surrounded by his family from Skibbereen, Mick Murphy had his back almost broken with slaps as one of the two team members to reach the summit. “I was lucky to get there first. We all got there in spirit,” he said, acknowledging the efforts of fellow climbers Clare O’Leary, Hanna Shields and George Shorten as well as Pat Falvey.

The other ‘summiter’, Ger McDonnell from Limerick, raised he hurley he used on May 22 to launch a poc fada from the crest of Everest. “I’ll never forget dancing the highest Irish jig,” he said. Such was the mood of the whole team, it looked like they might all be dancing jigs for a long time to come.