GAA greats come together for golf day in memory of Paul McGirr

THE Spirit of Paul McGirr foundation is bringing together some of the biggest names in GAA to help raise much-needed funds for their tireless charity work in a Golf Classic hosted at the Lough Erne resort on Friday, September 27.

Former Tyrone and Dromore footballer Sean O’Neill, managing director at MFC, a local sportswear company, have teamed up with the Spirit of Paul McGirr charity to help bring everything together.

Five-time All-Ireland winner Niall Scully along with Kerry midfielder Joe O’Connor are both employed by MFC so they will be in attendance, as will the Clifford brothers, Paudie and David, along with Darragh Roche from the Kingdom.

The new Tyrone manager and current Glen boss, Malachy O’Rourke, along with his right-hand man, Ryan Porter, will pick up the clubs for the day, as well as Paddy Tally, Ronan McNamee and Peter Canavan.

Representatives of the reigning Paul McGirr U16 Ulster Club champions Dromintee will also be in attendance, along with the Kildare Minor team that won the Paul McGirr All-Ireland title this season.

“We’re obviously delighted to be involved,” said O’Neill of MFC, who has been helping to organise the Golf Classic and recalls admiring Paul McGirr from a young age.

“The concept really came about because the Spirit of Paul McGirr charity is absolutely outstanding with the tireless effort that has gone into the many years of raising funds to help societies in Zambia, building schools and clinics.”

‘we looked up to Paul’

On Paul McGirr, O’Neill added, “As Dromore people, Fabian (O’Neill) and I, the directors of MFC, we were just young lads whenever Paul McGirr was 16, 17, 18 years old and we looked up to Paul at that age.

“Clearly, he was one of the main men in the club at that stage.

“I suppose we tried to follow suit, you wanted to be like Paul and now we find ourselves in a position where we feel compelled to get behind what the charity is doing.

“MFC haven’t been involved in many days like this to be honest.

“We haven’t really engaged with fundraising events in this capacity before but when we decided to do this, The Spirit of Paul McGirr charity was at the forefront of our thinking.”