Loving life at the World Cup

WHEN Roisin Donnelly from Coalisland and her partner Liam took up two teaching posts in Qatar seven years ago little did they think they would enjoy the experience of a life-time at the World Cup.

Now Mr and Mrs Mernagh, they had planned to stay for two years and return to settle to family life in Ireland. With two-year-old son Rian they plan to stay for another few years along with the many Irish ex-pats and other nationalities who have made Doha their home.

While Roisin admits she is not a huge fan of soccer, she is loving the World Cup. For Louth native Liam it is a dream come true as he regularly watches the Premiership and International games.

Roisin explained, “There are a lot of Irish here from all over, north and south. There has been a lot of negative publicity about Qatar, and it has issues like many other countries, but some of the stuff about it being really strict is so overstated. You can get drink in bars or hotels and from the QEC, which is like a huge off licence. There are loads of perks for teachers here and gyms and health facilities.

“Qatari people are lovely. They are the nicest most welcoming people. I have three royal members of the Al Thani in my class. I was invited to their royal palace, they have lions and tigers and all sorts. It was incredible! On the national day one of the royal kids in my class was parading on his camel.

“There has been fantastic excitement about the World Cup. There were displays in schools and football competitions and flags and bunting and posters up everywhere. We finished school early to prepare for all the traffic and supporters from around the world arriving

Roisin and Liam and little Rian were at the Holland – Senegal and Tunisia – Denmark games. They had ‘no bother’ acquiring tickets at face value.

Brilliant!

Roisin added, “The organisation was brilliant and it was a fantastic atmosphere going to the games and inside the stadiums. You could even take your buggy to the stadium doors and they kept it safe for you. There was no queuing for toilets or refreshments or anything. I’m not really a soccer fan; how can you follow a sport that finishes nil-nil after 90 minutes?! But I loved it. The Senegal supporters never stopped dancing for the whole game even though they lost. They had really colourful costumes and their faces painted.

“It was such a happy occasion. I bought a Dutch flag and when I saw the Senegal supporters were such great fun, I supported them! They stood for the whole game doing that dance. They never stopped. Cameroon, Ghana and all the African teams are the same. The stadiums are really cool and a nice walk. The rival supporters were together but it was all very safe and friendly.

“There were bands and people playing drums and DJs playing all the way and games for kids. Rian loved it and the supporters loved him! He was shouting for Aston Villa because his Daddy supports Villa!

Soccer aficionado Liam was ‘thrilled’ to get to World Cup games.

“The atmosphere is great. I watch a lot of Premiership games here and it was brilliant to see players like Van Dyke of Liverpool, de Jong of Barcelona and Gakpo who is going to United.

“The next game the following day Tunisa V Denmark was in Education City Stadium. It was a scoreless draw. The Tunisian support was massive and they were brilliant. They were all around us. They were so passionate about their football. The atmosphere was mad; brilliant!”

Roisin was disappointed however that the BBC did not show the opening ceremony.

“It was brilliant” she explained. “Morgan Freeman read a passage from the Koran about people coming together. The final is on December 18 which is Qatar’s national day and will be a big celebration. They will pull out all the stops. I hope the BBC and RTE show the closing ceremony.

“It is a brilliant experience. Qataris are very friendly generous people.”