Thomond neighbours reunited in mourning for elderly woman

A COMMUNITY whose homes have been bulldozed to make way for the new Thomond Park, gathered yesterday for the first time since moving out for another sad farewell.

Old neighbours from Knockalisheen Road, Ballynanty, came to mourn the death of Mary Finn, who lived at number 15.

She was laid to rest at Mount St Oliver cemetery after Requiem Mass in St Patrick’s Church.

All 16 former homes that made up the terrace backing onto Thomond Park were represented at the funeral.

Jimmy Culhane, who lived at Knockalisheen Road for 52 years said: “Mary was a lovely woman. I even knew her before she got married. She was one of the Curtis family. It was the first time the old neighbours at Knockalisheen Road have been together since we moved out before Christmas. Mrs Finn is the first of the neighbours to pass away since the big move.”

Mr Culhane, who has bought a new home in nearby Woodview, said nothing now remains of their former home.

The late Ms Finn and her husband, Tom, moved to Alderwood Avenue, Caherdavin, after the sale of their home to the IRFU.

It is understood that the IRFU paid in the region of €4 million for the 16 houses at Knockalisheen Road.

Meanwhile, the move by the IRFU to sell the naming rights of the redeveloped — for up to €15m — has stirred emotions in the rugby mad city.

The Limerick Leader has taken the unusual step of carrying a front page editorial condemning the move.

The comment piece signed by editor, Alan English, stated: “The name Thomond Park carries such resonance that ditching it would be an appalling error. And yet it may be that pure economics settles this in the end.

“For what company will pay megabucks for the naming rights, risking indifference and, perhaps scorn from those who will always refer to the ground as Thomond Park.”

Mr English claimed the decision to put the naming rights to the rebuilt Thomond Park up for sale is misguided and challenges an assertion by stadium development boss, Pat Whelan, that the decision had been met with a broadly “passive” reaction.

Mr Whelan told a recent press briefing that they are committed to handing over a debt-free stadium when the €43m facility is completed later this year.

He said: “There’s about €12m to €15m available from the naming rights.

“I know €15m is realistic because we have already spoken to three commercial firms on a competitive basis, and they’ve all given us figures not miles away from what we are after.”

However ‘Thomond’ may still be enshrined in any new name. John Hartery, chairman of the Munster IRFU branch management committee said a commercial rebranding could still embrace ‘Thomond’, such as ‘Company X Thomond Park’.