Keano effect: call to twin Cork with Sunderland

A MAN once voted the country’s top GAA fan kicked off a campaign yesterday for Cork to twin with Sunderland.

Cork county councillor Gerry Kelly, who was named a Giant Among GAA Fans in 2000, called on Rebel city chiefs to cash in on the so-called ‘Keano effect’.

He wrote to city manager, Joe Gavin, asking him to consider initiating a formal twinning arrangement between the two cities.

An informal relationship, founded on the success of Roy Keane’s managed Sunderland soccer club, has been building steadily since the Mayfield-born former Manchester United skipper was appointed manager by Niall Quinn last year.

And since his team’s promotion to the Premiership, Mr Kelly said he expects thousands more Irish soccer fans, especially from Cork, to flock to the city in the north east of England for Premiership clashes.

“This is a new alliance, a new relationship that’s in the very early stages of life. But it’s very real,” Mr Kelly said.

“We should forge stronger links with Sunderland and make the relationship more formal.

“Roy has made fantastic progress over there. His heart and soul is in this club.”

Roy Keane was made a Freeman of Cork city in 2005 in a joint ceremony with Sonia O’Sullivan.

Mr Kelly, who began his secondary school teaching career in Roy’s alma mater, Mayfield Community School, also taught his brother, Johnson.

The appointment of Keane as manager of the club has triggered a tourist boom in the English city.

Ryanair has also said that passenger numbers between Dublin and Newcastle have risen by 10% on Fridays and Saturdays since Keane took over. An extra 600 passengers now travel between the cities on match days.

Carol Walsh, of Sunderland’s tourist information centre said more Irish people, especially from Cork, were making the trip to the city.

Sunderland, with a population of just over 280,000, has two European twin towns — Essen in Germany and Saint-Nazaire in France, which it has had since 1949 and 1953 respectively.

The twin town links were developed as part of an initiative to promote peace and stability in the post-war period.