Fallon's Town Talk: Roscommon U-20 footballers contribute to buoyant Bank Holiday mood
Roscommon captain Bobby Nugent lifts the cup as his team are crowned Connacht U-20 football champions for 2024 in Castlebar on Saturday evening.
What a difference a few weeks makes. The mood of the football fraternity in the county has been downbeat throughout the spring. The senior footballers’ relegation from Division One was the culmination of a drab campaign, which featured little in the way of thrilling football. This continued into the Connacht semi-final when Roscommon lost to Mayo in a match played in a strangely-subdued atmosphere.
Yet, beneath the surface, something joyful has been stirring. The U-20s and minors have been steadily picking up good results and an increasing band of admirers. As the matches have been played on Wednesday and Friday evenings respectively, the progress of both teams has been an off-Broadway production.
However, the style of play and spirit of both teams have been heart-warming. I remember coming out of the U-20s’ opening match in Hyde Park, when they whittled down a seven-point deficit to draw with Mayo, and thinking it was the first football match I had enjoyed this year.
Of course, there is always a joie de vivre and uninhibited freedom to underage level that is difficult to produce in senior inter-county football where teams deploy regimented defensive structures. However, both teams are well coached and provide hope for the future of Roscommon football.
Last Saturday the U-20s propelled themselves centre-stage with an exhilarating Connacht final win over Galway in a superb match which was broadcast live on TG4.
The stirring triumph of Fastorslow, owned by the long-time sponsor of the Roscommon senior football team sponsor, Oran’s Seán Mulryan, in the Punchestown Gold Cup, one of the foremost steeplechases of the national hunt season, last Wednesday proved to be a good omen.
As is always the case after a win in an important football match, and that U-20 final was important to the Rossies, Roscommon Town was buzzing on Saturday night. That is the Bank Holiday weekend added to the festivities and the celebratory mood wafted on the summer breeze.
The Lamb Festival used to be the centrepiece of the May Bank Holiday weekend in Roscommon Town and, along with the first race meeting of the year, would usher in the beginning of summer in the town. The celebrations after the U-20s’ victory filled the gap this year and brought smiles to a lot of faces.
The players and management face a quick turnaround and a daunting task when they meet Tyrone in the All-Ireland semi-final in Cavan next Saturday. Hopefully, the team gets the support they deserve.
Newsreaders are revered in Ireland. The broadcasters who tell us the important news of the day are similarly esteemed in Britain and the USA, but in a small country like Ireland, the public often come to view the news anchor as a trusted friend.
The outpouring of affection for Bryan Dobson on his retirement from the RTÉ newsroom last Friday after 37 years with the state broadcaster was neither surprising nor unprecedented. He wasn’t even the first newsreader to be celebrated on the Late Late Show.
Charles Mitchel was RTÉ’s first celebrity newsreader, although such a phrase didn’t exist at the time. Mitchel was a revered figure and when he retired in 1984, having been the main presenter of the main news programmes since the station opened in 1962, it was a huge national story. It was appropriate that Mitchel appeared with Gay Byrne on the Late Late to mark his retirement. Byran Dobson followed in the noble tradition of Mitchel, Don Cockburn, Maurice O’Doherty, Anne Doyle, Derek Davis and the recently-retired Eileen Dunne of having the voice, authority, gravitas and likeability that viewers want and expect from a news broadcaster. Like all those giants of the newsroom, Dobson was unflappable and was invariably the presenter who fronted major breaking stories such as 9/11.
While Dobson has been presenting RTÉ 1 Radio’s flagship news shows over the last seven years, he was most associated with the Six-One News which he co-anchored for over 20 years. Bryan’s rousing send-off was well-merited.
The only disappointment of last week was that Eileen Magnier, RTÉ’s respected and much-admired North-West correspondent, retired to much less fanfare. While Eileen didn’t seek the spotlight, she deserved an avalanche of accolades to acknowledge her stellar career over an astonishing span of 37 years. Like the great newsreaders, Eileen Magnier was trusted by the viewers and listeners, and kept the north-west in the national spotlight. Hopefully, the appropriate level of plaudits will come in due course.
