Leeside basked in glory of top events

WITH the last few weekends, the mighty Costa del Cork has been centre stage for, well, ages.

First off the Marquee has started having gigs again, which is very exciting. This year Nathan Carter, Jason Derulo, Dolly Parton and many more have played their jams to the mighty Leeside. The showgrounds area just outside Pairc Uí Chaoimh have shown year after year how successful these short-term venues are. Drawing in massive crowds every year and top quality acts, it’s clear Cork is a nice spot for even the highest of divas (including Kim and Kanye West).

The Irish Open also took place across the waters in Fota Resort in Cork and drew over 100,000 people.

At first, I was a bit reluctant going there, the thought of old men cheering on people who I hadn’t a clue existed all seemed a bit too much.

We took off for Fota on Saturday and we were petrified of big lines of traffic jamming up the motorways but, thankfully, the organisers and traffic gardaí did an incredible job.

Traffic was fairly free flowing and everyone was moving at a fair pace. Then it came to figuring out where I was going around the course, but everyone was so friendly and helpful it made me realise why I’m proud to be from this great area.

Cork people showed by coming together it is possible to achieve whatever you want.

Golf organisers are so chuffed with the event they want it to come back ‘as soon as possible’. It was extraordinary to see Cork looking like the most beautiful postcard you could ever imagine. It should nearly become a wonder of the world, and I’m not just saying that because I’m from Cork.

The beauty of the sights and the people are well shown off during the summer; the county gets some exposure and it uses it to best advantage with good PR and promotion.

When I went to Ballyclough National School to raise their green flag for environment awareness I was struck by their saying ‘with the power of one it can be done’.

They are so right. All it takes is one person to get an idea and go through with it — that’s how we can show off our great nation. We should be proud with the way we come together and make Ireland look like the best little island on the planet, make it look heavenly and paradise-like.

As Henry Ford once said ‘Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success’.