All-Ireland dream comes true for exile
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Sean, 65, yesterday, as he savoured his good fortune in the company of nephew Patrick Power after his plane touched down at Dublin Airport. “It’s a dream come true.”
Guinness’s latest TV ad set in New York captures the annual mad scramble for All-Ireland tickets. Sean, a native of Killimer, Co Galway, has lived in the Big Apple for the past 13 years.
The advertisement tells of the heroic efforts of a third generation Irish American to get a pair of tickets for the final for his father. In Sean’s case it was his nephew who won the joint Guinness and RTÉ competition to secure the prized tickets for his uncle. While GAA fans are paying over €1,000 for tickets on eBay’s online auction, Sean will have as good a view of the action as President Mary McAleese.
It is the minor match that interests him most, though. Sean’s grandnephew Andrew, will captain the Galway minor side that faces Limerick. “It is a great honour for our family and for Andrew that he will be leading out his team. I’m even more delighted now at the prospect of seeing it all first hand,” said Sean.
Guinness teamed up with RTÉ’s Sunday Game earlier this summer to offer one lucky viewer the chance to bring a relative or a friend home from abroad for the match. Ronan Beirne, marketing manager, said: “It is great to see Sean so excited about being home for the finals on Sunday.”
It will also be an emotional time for the family of the minor team captain. Sean’s brother, Josie, died when Andrew was four and had always dreamed his grandson would play for his county. “He always said he would captain Galway one day,” recalled Patrick Power. “We thought it would be lovely, never dreaming it would actually happen. We are very proud of him.”
Galway’s qualification for the final has, meanwhile, provided a bonanza for charities with one punter yesterday forking out €4,700 for two tickets for the game. The premium tickets were auctioned on Galway Bay FM with the money raised going to Cancer Care West and a charity set up by Galway attacker Alan Kerins in aid of children with AIDS in Zambia, where he did voluntary work.
In Cork, among those cheering the Red Army will be Russian boy Georgy Farniyev who survived the Beslan school massacre last September when terrorists took children hostage.
He will be at the All-Ireland thanks to the efforts of Cork mother Mary Healy whose son, Ben, befriended Georgy when he was sent to Ireland in February to help him recover from his ordeal. Georgy, 11, will be sporting a Cork jersey given to him by Ben and rumour has it he is learning to sing ‘De Banks’.
